


Rising Eclipse

by SirSpoder



Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2018-09-14
Packaged: 2019-02-20 16:38:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 35
Words: 27,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13150674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirSpoder/pseuds/SirSpoder
Summary: This is the story of how Eclipsa became the most powerful queen in the history of Mewni. When faced with the pressure from her mother and the danger of the Mewman and monster war, Eclipsa must do whatever it takes to survive.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Right, so I think this requires a little bit of explaining (especially to those few people who read my other fics, because don't worry I'll get back to those soon enough).
> 
> So this is 35 chapter story that I've been posting on Reddit under a challenge (that I made up for myself) called the Terrible Fanfic series. A series where every day I would sit down and write a single chapter of fanfic disregarding planning, grammar, punctuation, and so on just to see what crazy stuff comes out of my brain. Now that I've finished writing all 35 chapters, I figured I'd go back and clean up those chapters and post it here for you to enjoy.
> 
> Also another thing I started writing this before the premiere of the episode Scent of a Hoodie.

_You must aspire to be like her_.

Everybody told her.

"Come now, Princess," Glossaryck said. "You shouldn't keep your mother waiting."

"It's so strange to hear you talk like this Glossy. Cut it out."

"Well I just can't help it now can I? After all, your mother has put me in charge of you and your training. So it is my job to make sure that you are prepared for whatever challenges you may face when the time comes."

"That doesn't sound like the Glossaryck I know," she said. "The Glossaryck I know is a lazy bum who only knows how to sit around, eat pudding and pick his toes all day."

"Ha-ha, would you then prefer me to  _not_  sit around all day eating pudding and picking my toes? Would you prefer me to be like your mother? Overbearing, strict and emotionless?"

"Fair point," the Princess sighed.

"Ha-ha, come on Eclipsa, I'm not going to enjoy this anymore than you do so might as well get it over with."

They wanted Eclipsa to be just like her. Her mother was just like her, and her mother before that as well.

That was pretty much what you get when you single-handedly save an entire nation by slicing through any monster you see on the battlefield. Solaria was a monster, a savage, a brute and perhaps even a little crazy.

But... she was also a hero.

They approached the gate to the throne room. Eclipsa took one deep breath, praying to the stars. She hated these meetings, but she was also frightened of them. But there was no other way around it. Only thing left to do now was enter.

Her mother sat there on the throne. Just like Queen Solaria.

"Hello... mother."

The woman's eyes were sharp. Glaring down both Eclipsa and Glossaryck. You wouldn't be able to tell at first but there was this certain sense of danger behind those empty pupils. Eclipsa could feel it even from afar.

"Glossaryck... how is my daughter's training coming about?"

"Smoothly, your Majesty." Glossaryck said.

"Good. So I assume then that everything is prepared for tomorrow's journey to Lady Hekapoo's realm of Fire?"

"What is there to prepare?" Glossaryck asked. "We have dimensional scissors, getting there is like walking all the way from here to that door over there."

"Then I expect nothing but satisfactory results from my Eclipsa's training. Is that clear?"

"Yes... your Majesty."


	2. Chapter 2

The violent fire was burning all around her. Laughing at her for every drop of sweat that came crawling down her forehead. They were mocking her, whistling their steam by her ears. Forcing her to sweat every ounce of water and energy out of her body. She stood there trembling on top of the crumbling cliff side, flames burning beneath her, giant boulders dangling over her head. One tiny slip could mean a whole avalanche of rocks sliding down right on top of her head.

Her mother must've really wanted her dead.

"Come on Eclipsa, darling!" Hekapoo yelled, "Put some effort into it will you?"

"Give me a break aunt H-poo..." Eclipsa cried. "This is a lot more difficult than it looks. Plus you're standing up there with your fire magic. I'm not even allowed to use my wand. How is that fair?"

"I don't know and I don't care. Also  _stop calling me by that name_!"

With a snap of the fingers Hekapoo instantly conjured up a magnificent red flame. It sparkled in her hand like the stars above. She threw them right at the pile of boulders above Eclipsa's head. Bursting with a loud pop, the entire pile of rubble collapsed right on top of the small ledge where she was standing. Bringing her right down into the throat of the roaring fire beneath.

And that was the last thing Eclipsa remembered when she woke up. She figured that the fire must've burned her pretty bad, since there was at least three layers of bandages covering her from head to toe. She almost couldn't breath with the thick fabric covering her entire face.

"At this rate she's never going to be able to master Fire magic in time," Hekapoo said outside the tent. "She still has Crystal magic and Cosmic magic to master. Her mother isn't going to be happy about this. Are... are you even listening to me old man?"

"Yes I am, but what good is there worrying about a petty matter like this?" Glossaryck said while munching his pudding, "I'd say just relax for now. How bad can it really be? And honestly, just think about it for a second here, we are immortal cosmic deities, we have lived since the beginning of time and space. Why should we even be concerned about what a mortal queen thinks? I sure as heck don't care one bit. So why should you?"

"Because I don't want another case of Solaria you hear?" Hekapoo snapped, "We might be all powerful immortal cosmic gods, but the majority of the universe is not. If we don't step in to guide the Mewmans into the path of good then who will? Who will be there to stop them from conquering realm after realm?"

Glossaryck sighed:

"Look, I know you're worried about all this. But you have to understand that sometimes things just go out of our control and there's nothing we can do about it. The universe is bigger than all of us. I mean, look at me. I'm just a tiny old man living in a book without a care in the world. And why? Because lying around all day long eating pudding is a much better prospect than going out there trying to fix every problem in the universe."

"Ugh... you're insufferable, I don't have time for this anymore. I'm waking the girl up. We still have more training to do."

"Yeah, about that," Glossaryck gulped another scoop of pudding down his throat, "I don't think that's going to happen, he-he."

"What do you mea... huh? What the... where's Eclipsa?"


	3. Chapter 3

Eclipsa had been traversing these uncharted plains for at least three days now, or maybe it was four. The girl wasn't entirely sure herself. What she  _was_  sure of though was the burning heat that was penetrating her brain. It was cruel and sharp. The desert was a wasteland, forgotten by civilization. Full of burning sand and unrelenting wind blowing in her face. The sunlight was whispering something by her ears, she was unsure what it said.

" _Oh, this was a bad idea_ ," she whispered to herself with her dried up lips. The heat stung like bees, and not the friendly kind either.

But what choice did she have? Her mother was never going to let her be anything else other than an image molded by her twisted and crooked hands. Hands that worshiped the monster that was Solaria. A hero they called her, but she was a savage as well.

Eclipsa wasn't like her. She wasn't like Solaria. She didn't want to be like her but again... what choice did she have? It was funny really, to think that the girl would choose to wander a fiery desert over being under the dominion of her mother. To her, dying a miserable death in a wasteland where nobody could find was probably a preferable choice. She knew that she hated the life inside her mother's grasps, but Eclipsa also knew deep down that the feeling of fear was more powerful than her wrath. So she'd made her choice.

But still, waking up covered in bandages and marching straight into a plain of burning sand was still a pretty stupid idea. That was probably why she had already collapsed on the ground without even noticing.

Waking up now was even more painful than the last time. But she also felt like her wounds healed up a little bit faster this time around. It honestly felt kind of nice. At least for a while before Eclipsa realized that she couldn't see. The first reaction she had was sudden panic, obviously, before she quickly realized that she was simply blindfolded.

" _You fell face first onto the sand, ya know?_ " A rough voice echoed, "If I hadn't dug you out of there your face would've been fried off like a piece of overcooked steak. Thank corn today was one of the colder days."

Eclipsa sat up from what she assumed was a makeshift cot of some sort. It felt rugged and ancient. And for some reason she couldn't feel the burning heat of the sun anymore. So she assumed that she was taken into a tent or perhaps even a cave or something.

"Easy now," the rough voice said. "You've been out for a week. Getting out of bed right away is just going to make everything sore."

"A WEEK?" She squealed, "Are you kidding?"

"Afraid not."

"Wh... who are you?"

"Who, me?" He grunted with a chuckle, "I'm just a wandering demon. I'm nobody special."

"What are you doing out here in the middle of a desert?" She asked, "I haven't seen anybody around for miles."

"Well... you see, I'm out here looking for a lost civilization. An ancient race... of monsters. You ever heard of the... Septarians?"


	4. Chapter 4

"So... can I take this blindfold off now?" The princess asked.

"No! Are you mad?"

"But why exactly do I need to be blindfolded?"

"Because in this desert you are as blind as a corn cob," the demon said. "You take those off and the heat is going to play tricks on your eyes you hear? The desert makes you see things that are not there. It makes you go mad. But I've been blind and crazy my whole life. I don't see with my eyes, see? I feel the world humming around me."

"Right... and I have no idea what on earth you're talking about. Let's just go find this Septarian race of yours and get out of this blasted burning pot. That's the deal, correct?"

"Heh, you got that right. You see, the Septarians, unlike most monsters, are extremely resistant to pain. You throw them off a mountain and they'll crawl back up right before the sun goes down. You throw them into a volcano and they'll just climb right out, burning skin and all. You throw them in a desert like this one, heh... and they'll wander around for the rest of their sad miserable lives."

"Oh, so like how we're just wandering aimlessly around?"

"Precisely!"

"So, let me get this straight," Eclipsa cleared her throat. "We are supposed to find a bunch of wandering homeless nomads in the middle of nowhere, and the only way to do so is to be wandering homeless nomads ourselves?"

"Well I apologize, princess, but not everyone around here has the luxury to be a pompous high class snob who can just sit around in their golden armchair all day long oblivious to what the outside world looks like."

"Wait, how did you..."

"Like I said, princess Eclipsa Butterfly, I don't see with my eyes," the demon gave a loud chuckle. "And from the looks of it, I'm guessing... you ran away from home, correct? I'm also sensing a slight feeling of... lost... confusion... and... euphoria?"

Eclipsa sighed:

"Yeah... you got me there. I just... feel so... so frustrated, you know? Like, my mother expects so much from me. She expects me to be just like her and her mother before that. I'm just a teenager for crying out loud. I don't want to have anything to do with that stupid golden chair she sits on every day. I guess... I guess I just feel... I guess I'm glad I'm far away from my royal responsibility for once."

And to Eclipsa's surprise, the demon responded with a loud cackle:

"Don't worry... your highness," he took a deep breath, "can you feel it? The change in the wind. Don't you worry about it one bit. Stick with me... and everything is going to be just fine. You'll never be burdened with responsibility ever again."

"Wh... what do you mean?"

"There's about to be some big changes around here. I'll let you in on a little secret I've learned while digging around in some old books. And if what I read can be trusted then... ha ha... then your mother the queen has no authority over this land."

"Huh?"

"You see... Monsters are the ancestor of all species on Mewni... including the Mewmans. And the Septarians are the first monsters of this land."


	5. Chapter 5

"NO!" Eclipsa snapped, "You're wrong! You are so wrong! You're wrong and I refuse to believe it!"

"Ah, this is curious isn't it?" The demon said, "Just moments ago you were acting like running away was the best decision you've ever made, and now..."

"Now I've decided that you are crazy. No, I won't have any of it."

"Well, the world doesn't care if you believe in it or not. The sun is going to keep rising and the moon is going to keep shining. Nothing you can do about it. And keep up will ya! These rocks are sharp, and I'm not going to be responsible if you fall into a sandy pit or something."

"Mewmans came from monsters, heh," Eclipsa sneered. "Can you believe this guy?"

"You're talking to yourselves there sweetheart," the demon said. "Did you take your blindfold off?"

"No, of course not."

"Good! Because if I hear something crazy coming out of your mouth, I'm going to assume that you've got a bad case of sun sickness and I'm leaving you behind, got that?"

"Fine," Eclipsa grunted. "Feels like I'm walking on clouds. Can't see a thing here."

"That's because you're doing it wrong darling."

"No I'm not! I know how to walk, okay? Thank you very much, and don't call me darling," Eclipsa cried.

"Shh!"

"No, I've had enough of you and your 'sniffing the sand' and 'feeling the air'. None of that makes any sense, now..."

"Shut up!"

"Wh... Pardon?"

The demon snatched Eclipsa's mouth, yanking her down to a rock nearby. Eclipsa couldn't really tell where they were to be honest.

"What's going on?"

"Can't you tell?" The demon snapped, "Of course you can't. You're just a helpless little girl who can't even see."

"Wh..."

"Shh, just shut up, alright?" He cut her off, "Shut up... and smell."

Eclipsa was hesitant, but slowly the damp fragrance of the nearby wet sand and the unbearable heat of the sun began seeping into her nostril. It was a powerful scent. There... there were creatures... creatures wandering on top of the wet sand. Eclipsa couldn't believe it.

"So?" The demon asked.

"Um... er... I... is that... there's a bunch of creatures right over there... are they... monsters?"

"Try harder... be more specific."

"I... um... okay... wet fur... a tail... and... and teeth. Dogs? No, no... rodent... rats?"

"Precisely! Not bad your highness. I'm impressed."

"Holy Mewni... these rats are huge! What are they doing here?"

"Well... it's not uncommon for monsters to wander around the world after what your queen... Solaria did to the... ahem... the monster tribes. Even the less evolved of the monsters, like the rats here, were forced to move out of their homes. And I think you know exactly why."

"I... yeah... yeah... you mean the forest fire during the Great Raid..."

"Well, I wouldn't know anything about that," the demon said. "I just find it... funny that's all. Here you are, knowing more about your people's history than I do, and yet your mother still sits on that throne like some great hero. Heh... good joke."

Eclipsa fell silent. She didn't know whether these were newfound conflicting emotions or if these confused feelings had been there all this time.

"Well... no use sitting around here anymore. Dinner's not going to cook themselves."


	6. Chapter 6

The bonfire managed to warm them up somewhat from the freezing night desert. It was amazing how fast the temperature dropped once the sun was below the horizon. Marvelous sight to behold that was... at least it would've been without this darn blindfold.

"S'the meat warm enough for yer?" The demon asked.

"Yeah... burning hot," Eclipsa took a huge chunk off with her teeth, the girl couldn't control her hunger. It had been so long since she had a proper meal, though this was hardly proper.

"Heh, I ain't the best cook 'round these parts but I survived 'til this point now. So that's gotta count for something."

Eclipsa sighed:

"I don't see the point of travelling this desert if I'm just going to return to my mother one of these days."

"Hey! Not everything is about you okay?" The demon snapped, "Stop being selfish."

"Don't talk to me like you know everything in the world. You don't! You know nothing!"

"I know more than you. And that's enough."

"Is that a fact? I find that hard to believe. You know nothing about me. You don't know what it's like living under someone like my mother."

"Heh, you're one to talk. You haven't even bothered to ask for my name yet."

"I..."

"If you did you would've known the answer to that question is 'I don't know'."

"What? You don't even know your own name?"

"Oh so NOW you're interested. Well whoop-de-doo. Seems like nobody is interested in the mundane, no? People only pay attention when there's something unusual that catches their eyes like a blind demon or some fool who doesn't remember his name. Heh... it's funny really. People will pay good corn to see a duke who doesn't have a brain or a king who is blind, but they won't even spit out a grain of wheat for the one starving on the street. It's a circus I tell you."

"Are you this blind ' _king_ ' then?" Eclipsa asked.

"Nah, no, nothing like that. But I  _have_  seen enough of those starving on the street to know that your queen, you know the 'hero' sitting on the throne, she doesn't care one bit for those living in this land. You should see it sometimes. Monsters are dropping like flies everywhere. In the forest, in the desert, doesn't matter."

"So you're a monster sympathizer," Eclipsa said. "I should've known. Is that why you're looking for this Septarian race? Do you honestly think an ancient monster race is going to help you overthrow Mewni? If so then you and your fellow monsters should know that it sure won't be easy attempting something so... ambitious. After all, you have firsthand experience don't you?"

"You pegged me all wrong there little girl," he sneered. "I'm a demon. Not a monster."

"A demon?" Eclipsa asked, perplexed, "Like... the Lucitors?"

"A common misconception my dear, but no. Hmm... how do I say this... hmm... well, you see, I've read this in a book once. It's simple really. Mewmans came from Monsters. Monsters came from Ancient Monsters, and Ancient Monsters came from the earth. But even before that, there were demons. That's me."

Eclipsa shook her head in disbelief, with her mouth wide open. The demon laughed:

"It's hard to believe sure. I have nothing to prove it either, no one to prove it with. I'm the last of my kind you see."

"You're right... I don't believe you."

"And I don't care," the demon gulped the entire rat down his throat. "Just like the Septarians - the world doesn't care if you believe in it or not. It will continue to exist. But... that said, if you really want to know the truth, then just follow me. When we find the Septarians, it will prove my... err... my heritage."

"How?"

"Simple... the Septarians worship a god. And his name is Sir Glossaryck of Terms. You can ask him."


	7. Chapter 7

"Well why didn't you say so?" The demon shouted, "I didn't know you were friends with Glossaryck."

"Well, to be frank 'friend' is a strong word. We're more like... well, I don't actually know how to describe our relationship. Glossaryck is just this... strange being that just... exists. I can try to talk to him but all that'll do is frustrate me and in the end give me a headache or two."

"Well that's because you're going about it all wrong. You don't ' _talk_ ' to Glossaryck. If you 'talk' to him all he's going to give you are vague riddles and nonsense because he doesn't care. He has already transcended this reality, leaving behind all mortal attachment. You want to communicate with him in a meaningful way, you have to do the same. Heh... it took me a really long time, but I finally managed to do it. I guess being blind helped with that. But at least I can quote unquote talk with Glossaryck now. So that's a plus."

"Is that why you want to find the Septarians? Because they worship Glossaryck?"

"More or less. He's the only one around who I can really talk to. It gets awfully lonely you see, having no worldly attachment and all. But in a way, it was all worth it."

"What do you mean?"

"Let me tell you something, your highness. When you get a taste of infinity, you'll never want to go back."

The demon was talking nonsense of course. Eclipsa didn't understand any of the concepts. But in a way... she'd wanted to understand. She had talked to Glossaryck countless times. And not once did she feel she was talking to an actual person. Something was missing, she didn't know what.

"The Septarians you see..." the demon explained, "they don't understand. They think that just because they're immortal they can take back this land from the Mewmans."

"You don't think they can?"

"Of course they can, don't be stupid. You honestly think that your queen Solaria could really have destroyed all of the monsters? Though powerful that woman was she was only just a single Mewman. In the face of monsters who do not fear death - they mean nothing. The Septarians could take back Mewni without breaking a sweat. But they have become distant from their gods. They have abandoned the cosmic deities. Consumed by greed, arrogance. But who could blame them? There's nobody around to render their immortality useless, no one to challenge them. The more arrogant they get... the further they drift from their ancestry. It's only a matter of time now before they cut off their ties with the demons of the past. When that happens... heh, it's hard to tell what will happen to me to be frank."

Eclipsa spun her head, only now realizing what he was rambling on about:

"Wh... you... you mean... when the Septarians sever their ancestry ties... you... you'll... die?"

The demon chuckled:

"I am the last of my kind, your highness. Most Mewmans don't even know about the Ancient Monsters, let alone the demons. I have learned the methods of transcendence when my time comes. But if my  _history_  is lost... that frankly will be a fate worse than death."

Eclipsa was lost for words. All her life she knew she didn't know much of the outside world. But to think there was someone like this demon out here, a part of her own race's history - her own family's history... the girl just couldn't help but feel guilty.

"Well... you're not going to like this, your highness. But there's a bunch of rats approaching us at high speed this very moment. They seem angry."

"WHAT?" Eclipsa shrieked.

"And... they've surrounded us."

"WHAT?"


	8. Chapter 8

"Do you always eat something without a second thought?" Eclipsa asked.

"Hey, I swear, those rats were feral," the demon said. "I eat them all the time. Just... never thought that the Rat King would come after me. He he..."

"SILENCE!"

A strong hand ripped off Eclipsa's blindfold, and for the first time since she met the demon - she could actually see. They were in a large cave with torches hanging all over the walls. She wasn't sure how far back this cave stretched, it was too dark too see clearly. There were rats all over the place, rats the size of boars. Their furs were stone grey, rough and menacing. Their eyes - burning red.

It took some time before the sun heat finally wore off her weary eyes. And when she turned her head - she saw the demon for the first time.

He was wearing two black eyepatches. The rats were quick to yank those off, too. And there she sat, staring right into his white pupils. His skin was like a red stone of sort, rocky and rough. He was balding but a few strand of silver hair still remained surrounding the pair of horns on his head. He sported a golden fang, sharp and shiny. The demon was a lot more scrawny than she had imagined. Hard to believe a creature like this could survive all by himself for so long.

Even in the hands of the enemy, even while captured - he still smiled confidently like a mad man.

"The King will now speak to the trespassers," one of the rats announced. "He who is many, he who is everywhere but nowhere - I present to you, the Thousand as One - our Rat King."

From the shadow of the cave a huge blob emerged. At first glance it seemed like a gigantic boulder with a rocky surface of some sort. But upon closer inspection it became clear that this so called Rat King was a creature made up of thousands of tiny rats, scurrying up and down to hold up this shapeless blob.

"Hoo, you might wanna shorten that title there, your Majesty," the demon laughed. "So which is it then? The Thousand as One or the Rat King?"

"SILENCE!" The rat guard nearby struck the demon's face with the back of his palm.

" _Enough of your games, demon,_ " A strange voice echoed from the blob. " _You know very well that you are not welcomed around these parts, and yet you chose to intrude upon our domain and devour our brothers, sisters and children._ "

"With all due respect your Majesty... those rats we ate... they were feral. Their minds were long gone, corrupted by the madness of the sun. As far as I'm concerned I did them a favor."

" _You dare speak like that to us?_  The Rat King said, " _Allow us to repeat._ _WE ARE THE THOUSAND AS ONE, you hear? We are everywhere but nowhere. You disrespect us like that - you are disrespecting my kingdom._ "

"Look I think we all started off on the wrong foot here," the demon quickly said. "Listen, I didn't come here looking for trouble you hear? I came here looking for the Septarians. And along the way I thought, hey maybe I ought to help these poor folks out somehow. There's a sickness running rampant 'round these parts, and  _I_  have the cure for it with me."

" _We have no need for false priests or witch doctors such as yourself, demon. We have had enough problems as it is. Our kingdom is at war against the Devil Toads, see? Everyday the casualties pile up like leftover breadcrumbs. So I am certainly not going to have some know-it-all false priest march into my kingdom acting like he owns the place, do you understand?_ "

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, who said anything about  _me_  curing the sickness?" The demon smirked. "I'm not the one here who knows how to cure this plague. Ha ha... she is."


	9. Chapter 9

"I'm going to throw you down a cliff once we get out of this," Eclipsa grunted under her breath.

"Shh! Quiet now, or else the King will feed us to his blue crocodile pets. A prospect that I, for one, will not stand," the demon whispered.

"You were the one who got us in this mess in the first place! How am I supposed to cure all these rats? You tell me."

"Just listen here, alright? Everything is going to be fine. When I said I know how to cure these filthy rodents, I meant it. All you have to do is simply  _make_  them  _think_  that you are the one doing it."

"But why me of all people?"

"Don't you see? Because you're a Mewman! You're in monsters' territory. You honestly think that these folks will be willing to let you go scot-free? After what your countless Mewman queens did in the past?"

The Rat King took them to a small encampment underground. There were still a few traces of sand all over the place, but they were mostly covered up by the musty rocks. The tents were torn and old, with patches of tattered leather stitched together here and there. Behind were a few barrels of what seemed like old rotten food and moldy drinks, most of them smelled like old wine. There was also a faint sound of water dripping in the distance. There must've been an underground spring somewhere in this cave.

"Yeesh, no wonder you have so many sick folks here," the demon said. "Doesn't take a genius to tell that you've been eating nothing but moldy crab cakes."

" _It is rather unfortunate,_ " The Rat King said. " _But what other choices do we have? After all, not everybody here has the luxury to live a castle._ "

"Hold on now," the demon raised his hand, "you lay one finger on the girl here and you can forget about us curing your people. So watch it!"

The King led them to a big tent. Once inside, Eclipsa's immediate reaction was flinching at the horrid sight before her. Countless rats lying on countless cots in a line stretching all the way to the other side of this enormous tent. There must've been at least hundreds if not more. There were rashes all over their bodies, clumsily covered up by layers upon layers of old bandages stained with mucus. Their pupils were like fogs, bland and white just like the demon's. Must've been the effects of the sun. These rats were so exhausted that they couldn't even manage a growl, despite how painful it must've been.

"Hoo, you all need to take a bath," the demon sniffed the air. "Even I wouldn't eat something that smells this bad, he he..."

" _Well?_ " The Rat King said, " _Show me this cure of yours, Mewman._ "

"Um... right... right," Eclipsa hesitated, "right... um... err... in a moment..."

Eclipsa and the demon approached one of the rats lying on the ground nearby. This one's face was covered in thick moldy bandages. Eclipsa had never approached anything so foul. She felt a sick sensation in her stomach, almost couldn't contain herself.

"I... I'm not sure about this," she whispered to the demon.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of the complicated parts," the demon muttered back. "This is a spell I developed while messing with Chaotic elements. It requires both madness and sanity. It's very simple, all you have to do is stay absolutely calm. I will be the madness, you will be the sanity. They balance each other out so that the spell won't go out of control. You got all that? Can you stay calm?"

"Um... I think so."

"Good," the demon cackled, rubbing his hands together. "Let's see what you've got now. Oh and one more thing... try to... try to put on a show, okay? Make it look like you're actually doing the spells. Do a little hand motion here and there, they'll love it."

She was still slightly skeptical of the whole thing, but by spending so much time with the demon she began to realize that he knew so much more about this world than she did. There was no use protesting.

Eclipsa knelt down nearby the rat, and just like he had instructed she began waving her hand on top of all the injuries and bandages. But to her surprise a small green glow began radiating from her palms. It felt... natural. This surge of energy... this overwhelming surge of energy. They were practically endless. This was the power of the demon.

Before Eclipsa even realized, the injured rat had already started breathing normally again. It was as if nothing bad had happened to him.

The demon simply cackled:

"Told you she could do it."


	10. Chapter 10

"I can't believe it..." Eclipsa gasped, "we survived..."

The demon snorted out a disgusting laugh:

"What did I tell yer? You got nothin' to worry about, you hear? When it comes to Chaotic magic, I am the king. Nobody can match me. Ha!"

"Huh... yeah... no kidding."

The Rat King had temporarily decided to pardon both Eclipsa and the demon for their trespasses. Which seemed great at first until you realize that the Rat King was made up of literally thousands of rats. And any one of them could snap into an uncontrollable fit of madness at any moment, forgetting the pardon in an instant. At least that was what the demon told Eclipsa.

The demon had managed to get back the two ragged eyepatches the rats took from him earlier, the ones he used to cover up his eyes. Eclipsa suspected the demon to be a bit sensitive about his blindness. But given his madness it was more likely that the demon didn't care one bit.

The demon proceeded to yank a beetle right off the ground and did not even hesitate in chucking it straight down his throat.

"You can't be picky around these parts," he said. "Food is food. I've eaten so much of these that I've practically lost my taste bud. It's worth it, though. Let's me abandon my mortal attachment just like that," he snapped his fingers.

They sat around a small camp fire in the middle of the cavern. There were also a bunch of tents set up all the way to the back of the cave where the heat of the campfire could barely reach. There were a few warrior rats, but not many in good shape. Their swords were dull, their shields began to wear. Most of them didn't even have any decent armor, just rough patches of mail and leather here and there, and maybe a helm once in a blue moon.

"Can I ask you something?" Eclipsa muttered.

"Shoot."

"Wh... what is this Chaotic magic? I've never heard of it before."

"Ah... yeah... that. To be frank  _nobody's_  heard of it. I made it up. You said you're friends with Glossaryck right? D'he ever tell yer about a technique called 'dipping down'?"

"Um... yeah, briefly. He told me something about stew and hobo chunks or... something, I don't really know."

"Yeah, well, people like me can't do magic you see. I've never touched a wand before, so I have no training. That's why none of the Mewman peasants can perform magic."

"Oh yeah," Eclipsa pondered, only now realizing, "you're right."

"Well," the demon chuckled, "believe it or not, there is actually a way around that. And the only reason I know is because my species is so stupidly old. We were around even before the plants. We kind of just... walked the surface of the planet with no goals, no direction... blind."

For a brief second, Eclipsa could've sworn she saw a strand of pure silver hair on the demon's head. It somehow made him looked a billion years younger.

"Heh... I guess... I guess we demons weren't so different compared to the Mewmans or the Monsters of these current centuries. We waged wars, fought one another, because we didn't know what else to do. It drove us mad you see. Eating away at our soul, our minds. Sometimes I couldn't even tell what's real from what's not... imagine that. But it's not all bad you know. Confusion, pain, that was what did it. That was what pushed us, gave us motivations... a goal. What goal, you ask? To stop the pain and the confusion. And you see, the only way to do so... is to detach yourself from... well... you."

"Huh?"

"Relinquishing mortal attachment made us closer to the cosmos more than ever. We could finally see clearly for the very first time. The cosmic energy flowing through everything in this universe. Orderly and stable. But... but... you stir up that order, that stability, and it'll cause a reaction. A powerful one at that," he continued chuckling, "it's... quite ironic, really. The very thing that set us free from mortal pain was what caused the very end of my species. We used those cosmic reactions for more war you see. It... didn't end well."

"So that's it then?" Eclipsa asked, "This Chaotic magic... you can only access it once you... leave behind your mortal attachment?"

"You can try if you want. It IS a powerful source of energy, but you don't want to lose your sanity here do you? Just stick to dipping down, kid. A lot safer that way."


	11. Chapter 11

A sudden buzzing noise rang in Eclipsa's ears. She wondered what it was that was so darn loud. In the middle of the night no less.

Eclipsa peeked outside of her tent, rubbing her weary eyes. And to her surprise a horde of giant rats came rushing right pass her face. That woke her up in an instant. The cave was still a bit too dark to tell where exactly they were going.

"What's going on?" The demon asked from the back of the tent.

"I don't know. The rats... they're going somewhere. I meeting... I think. You reckon it's anything important?"

"Probably. Otherwise they wouldn't be making such a ruckus. Come on, let's go."

Eclipsa dressed herself quickly and they left for this supposed meeting. It was really strange, the rats were bringing along their weapons; their spears, swords and shields. There were a bunch of incoherent screaming in the distant which added even more to the turmoil in the darkness of the cave.

"Huh? What the..."

"OUR KING IS DEAD!"

Those simple four words shocked Eclipsa so much she almost felt sick in the stomach (or may she was just hungry, couldn't really tell).

"Something's not right, come on Princess."

"Right."

The rats gathered around an area somewhere near the front of the cave. Eclipsa could feel the cold desert wind blowing in from the outside. The girl tried pushing through to the front but these monsters were just too bulky to budge. Luckily the demon was there to support her and help her get through to the other side.

"Calm down you idiot!" One of the rats in the front yelled, "Our king isn't dead, he was just attacked that's all."

The blob of rats that they called their king were lying on the ground in a puddle of some sort. The king seemed... smaller than Eclipsa remembered.

"What happened?" The demon asked.

"Devil Toads," the rat guard said. "They attacked him out of the blue. Our king was sending out a couple hundred small rats to scout the desert like every other day, and only one of them came back. It reported an encounter with the Toads."

"How many?" The demon asked.

"Don't know. At least a couple dozen or so, maybe even a whole battalion. They wanted to send a message."

" _They said..._ " The Rat King huffed, exhausted that his rats were captured, " _they said... they want to make... a deal._ "

"A deal?"

" _They want... the girl._ "

"WHAT?" She cried, "Me?"

" _They said that the Mewmans are looking all over the area for their lost princess..._ " The Rat King coughed violently, " _... Ahem, the Mewmans are everywhere, and they don't seem happy._ "

"Oh dear... my mother... she's looking for me."

" _They also said... they want the girl... for ransom. They intend to trade her in to the Mewmans._ "

"Heh, the gall these Toads..." the demon grunted. "What happens when we don't turn over the princess?"

The Rat King coughed once more:

" _They said... in that case they'll reveal our location to the Mewmans. And the Mewmans... they will come..._ "


	12. Chapter 12

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh... they're coming for me... they're coming for me!"

"Yeah..."

"Mother's looking for me. She's coming after me. I'm finally going to get out of this dump. No! What am I saying? I don't want to go back to her. No, no that won't do."

"Yeah..."

"What am I going to do? What am I going to do? She's coming for me. What do I tell her? That I just thought to run away? No that won't do, she'll lock me up in a dungeon for one billion years!"

"Sheesh, is your mother that cruel? Or are you just crazy?"

"Don't know... maybe hanging around you caused me to go mad."

"Or maybe, just maybe you're overthinking this. So calm down for the love of corn. Everything is going to be fine."

"How do you know that? What proof is there that shows me everything will be alright? Look me in the eyes and tell me everything will work out in the end."

"HA!" The demon chuckled, "You've got a great sense of humor there, I'll give you that. But seriously, just relax will yer?"

"HOW CAN I RELAX WHEN THERE'S A BUNCH OF FROGS OUT THERE PLOTTING TO TAKE ME AWAY?"

"They're Devil Toads, your highness," the demon corrected. "Sheesh, don't let any of those wet skin freaks hear you say that, they'll boil you alive. Which, coincidentally, is exactly what I'm planning to do to those fools threatening us."

"Wait, WHAT?" Eclipsa took a step back, "Y... you can't just... you can't just do that to other people?"

"There's a little oasis up north somewhere. We're going to send a message to those Toads and tell them to meet us there for the exchange. Those freaks don't do so well in the sun, you see. Their skin's going to dry up sooner than you can say 'Holy Mewni'. They see water up ahead and they'll charge right in, throwing common sense out the window. That's where my Chaotic magic comes in. Just a little heat and viola, we're having Toads for dinner."

"WHAT? YOU'RE CRAZY!"

"You're right, Toads are disgusting anyway. I'll just boil them until they pass out. Everything will be alright you hear? You have nothing to worry about. Ha ha."

This new feeling growing within Eclipsa, she didn't know what it was. Following this demon around, it... all felt wrong somehow. His actions, the demon wasn't afraid to do anything. Nothing was too far off. You didn't know what he was going to do next. And that, frankly, was terrifying.

"We still have a deal you and I," the demon said. "We are going to find those pesky Septarians no matter what. You still want to meet up with Glossaryck again, don't you?"

And reluctantly, the princess nodded her head.


	13. Chapter 13

"You sure this is going to work?"

"No... not really," the demon said.

"What do you mean?"

"Remember when I told you Chaotic magic requires both sanity and madness? Well... I sort of lied. It doesn't  _require_  sanity you see. It's... just that it'll be a real mess if I just use my own crazy noggin as err... juice charging my magic. It'll go all over the place, little explosion here, little crater there. You wouldn't like the look of it, trust me."

"I see... so... that's it, huh? I'm just here as your little helper? Just a tool to keep you from going overboard?"

"And I appreciate you for it," the demon gave off a smirk.

"You're unbelievable," said Eclipsa.

The girl was wearing her little blindfold again. Going off to this little oasis was a surprisingly short walk. She must have gotten used to being blind. She could feel the cool water vapor rising from the pool roughly five yards away. There was even a couple of plants here there. The cool sensation showered them just as they entered. Small gust of wind blowing from the West and strong sunlight pouring down from above. A combination that was somehow quite relaxing to be completely frank.

"By the way," the demon said, "I don't recall you telling me what you plan to do after all this is over."

Eclipsa hesitated for a moment. She knew that she'd have to face this problem eventually. She tried avoiding it for as long as she could, but there was no use doing that now that the demon had brought it up.

"I... I don't really know. And frankly... I... don't think I care. I'll just wander the world... I guess. But one thing's for sure - I am not going back to Mewni."

"Really now? You do know that when I find the Septarians I'm going to remind them of their ancestry right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, remember what I said long ago? That all Mewmans came from Monsters and that the Septarians were one of the first monsters? It renders the Mewman authority meaningless, remember that? Well... ahem, what do you think will happen after I've finished my business with those lizards?"

"You... you're still going to attack Mewni? After all this time?" She asked.

"I won't, but the Septarians will. I honestly don't care what those cold blooded freaks do, I'm just here to remind them where they came from so I won't cease to exist."

Deep down, Eclipsa knew what the demon said was the truth. No matter how much she tried to refuse those facts. But thinking back, the girl was confident she would never go back to her home, her kingdom and yet at the same time she was slightly unsure whether she had the commitment to follow through with it. A strange feeling of internal struggle raged within her. Will she go back? Or will she be on her way? She hated what she had to put up with. She hated her training, she hated everything about it.

But she hated war even more. Because war - that was something Solaria would do.

"I won't let the Septarians take my kingdom!"

"Hmm? Is that so?"

"Yes!" She said firmly, "I am not going to be anything like my mother and all those queens before me. I'm going to show them that I can learn magic without going through any of their brainwashing."

"And how do you suppose you'll go about accomplishing that?"

"Help me!"

"Huh?"

"Please, help me," Eclipsa cried. "Teach me what you know. Teach me everything you know about magic. I want to get stronger. I  _need_  to get stronger."

Eclipsa couldn't see, but she could tell the demon was smirking ear to ear.

"I thought you'd never ask. Ha ha, this will be interesting. Ha! I love it. Your first lesson - is Fire magic. Now show me how you'd boil a toad, will yer?"


	14. Chapter 14

"Holy Mewni Corn!" The demon gasped, "They're all burnt to a crisp."

"WHAT?" Eclipsa yelled.

"Nah I'm just kidding. Ha ha, you should've seen your face. Ha ha!"

The Toads came out from nowhere. One moment there was not a sound to be heard, the next their footsteps were stomping on the sand like war drums. It was as if they had descended from the heavens. Thank Mewni the demon was right about those Toads falling for their trap, would've been quite messy otherwise. Eclipsa couldn't see, but she could smell so clearly the scent of burning flesh in the pool of water. The girl was baffled at what she was capable of, the magic that came out of her hand. It was absolutely overwhelming.

"Heh, amateurs," the demon grunted. "Them idiots think they can just walk in here without feeling the sun burn. Guess they won't be going anywhere for a while."

"I... I don't get it," Eclipsa grabbed her palms, they didn't feel warm at all. "What exactly did I do? How could boiling them with fire make them go unconscious?"

"This might come as a surprise for you, since you can't see, but you didn't fry these freaks with fire. You fried them with lightning."

"W... I what?"

"Lightning - some of the old scholars call it Plasma or something. I read it in a book once, see. It's basically like fire, but just so much hotter. It requires a ridiculous amount of temperature for it to even form. Cold and destructive."

"I did that?"

"I know right? 'Shocked' the heck outta me too," the demon laughed. "While dipping down no less. You have amazing magical potential there, your highness."

Her mind did not even process it until now, but she really was dipping down when those Toads came. Dear lord, she muttered under her breath. It was something she could never do while training back home no matter how hard she tried. Maybe being around this demon gave her a surplus of Chaotic energy. There certainly was something growing inside that wasn't there before, something in her that she simply could not describe.

"Well, we better get a move on then," the demon said. "The Septarians aren't going to wait."

"Huh? Wait, we can't just leave these Toads here."

"Why not?"

"If the Toads find out that the rats didn't hand me over to them they'll reveal the location of the rat kingdom to my people. The rats won't stand a chance against them."

"Huh... you have a point there. That said... I'm not entirely sure if those Toads actually have connections with the Mewmans. Maybe they were just bluffing."

"So... what do we do?"

"What else? Buckle up your highness, because we're paying the Toad Chief a little visit!"


	15. Chapter 15

"Do you smell that, your highness?"

"Moist skin and gross mucus? Yeah, I can smell it from a mile away."

"You're getting better and better at this aren't you?"

"Huh, yeah... I suppose I am."

"Good," the demon cackled, "because this is going to be a two man job, you hear? Or in this case a one demon, one Mewman job.  _Tomayto, tomahto,_  doesn't really matter. I'm going to confront the Toad Chief and find out whether he's bluffing or not. But we got to do this quietly. These wet skin freaks are quicker than crickets high on Goblin Dogs."

"Hey, you know, I've got an idea," Eclipsa cleared her throat. "I was thinking, I don't know, maybe we could turn ourselves in?"

"That is an idea alright. I stupid one, but an idea nonetheless."

"I know, I know, just hear me out alright? These Devil Toads are threatening the rats with the fact that if they don't turn me over they'll reveal to my people the location of the rats' kingdom. The deal was that if the rats turn me over, they won't reveal that secret, correct? Think about it, if we turn ourselves over willingly, that would mean the deal is complete. And the Toads would have no incentive to reveal to my people the location of the rats' kingdom."

"Right, right, double crossing is a thing that never happens and I have a third arm. Right, right, sound plan," The demon sneered. "Let's just for the sake of argument say we do just that. What then? How do we escape out of their grasps?"

"Well... your Chaotic magic seems powerful enough. So couldn't you just... I don't know, defeat all of those Toads? Or just use a blinding spell of some sort to buy us enough time to escape? We go in there, pretend to turn ourselves in, find out if they actually have connections with my people then we get out. Simple as that."

"Huh... that so?""

The demon scratched his chin, humming a tune as he was thinking. It was then followed shortly after with a loud chuckle:

"Ha! I gotta hand it to yer kid, you've outdone yourselves. You got it all figured out."

"Heh... I guess so."

"Well buckle up then, your highness. Because we're about to get captured."

"Are you for real? You knew that this whole time and you didn't say anything?"

"Yeah, in retrospect, hiding behind the only rock in the middle of the desert was probably not the best idea. My bad. Well, it can't be helped now. 'Cause here they come."

Eclipsa didn't even need to turn her head to feel the strong grasp of the Toads subduing her. They quickly fastened around her a tight rugged rope that dug into her skin like a bite from a hungry hound. Eclipsa figured there was no use resisting, since these Toads were probably at least ten times stronger than her.

They dragged the two of them into what felt like a large cave, cool breeze began blowing against her face. It made sense, no way these Toads could live out in the desert where the sun could burn their skin right off.

Just like when the rats captured them, the Toads quickly yanked their blindfolds off. It took a few seconds for Eclipsa's eyes to clear from all the burning light outside. And standing right before them - the Chief of the Devil Toads.

He was a stout looking creature, robust and strong. His skin was as dark as the night under a shady moon, a strong complexion that was. He sat there on his rocky throne with that tiny golden crown on his head. It was almost comical really.

His eyes glared with a certain... darkness that was hard to explain. Not exactly hostile but definitely not the most friendly. Quite rough around the edges actually.

"So... look at what the cats dragged in?" the Chief said, "Or should I say... the rats? I did not think the Rat King would have the guts to comply to my demands. Interesting..."

"Yeah... um... yes, ye... yes," Eclipsa stuttered, "yes... that's right. Right. The Rat King has agreed to your terms. And we are here to turn ourselves in to you... yes... um..."

"Hmm... so you are the Mewman girl they speak of?" The Chief gently rubbed his big chubby chin, "Good... very good indeed. Because there's someone here to meet you... princess."

And with a snap of his finger a bright figure emerged from behind the shadows of the cave.

Eclipsa was lost for words:

"Hekapoo?"


	16. Chapter 16

"Behold!" The Toad Chief bellowed, "The Forger of Scissors, the Legendary Fire Lady, the Ghost of Flames - Lady Hekapoo!"

If it wasn't for the demon nudging Eclipsa, the girl would've stayed there with her jaw glued to the ground for the next week or so. She even thought about getting a lever and try prying it off the floor. But no time for silly thoughts, the girl told herself.

There she stood, her teacher in the flesh - Lady Hekapoo. No mistake about it. It was no illusion, she was sure that this wasn't the effect of the sun playing tricks on her eyes.

"Hekapoo... what on earth are you doing here?"

"What do you think?" Hekapoo grunted, "Do you have ANY idea what I had to go through to get to you? Do you? Well it doesn't matter either way because you're in so much trouble when we go back home young lady."

Hekapoo's eyes raged with fiery anger. Anger... that, strangely enough, was not aimed at Eclipsa - but instead the demon.

"And you!" The Lady pointed her finger, "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be dead!"

"Well it's good to see you, too Hekapoo," The demon grinned. "It's been quite a while hasn't it?"

"Can it! I don't want to hear another word from your mouth, you hear?" She looked back to the princess, "Eclipsa sweetie, what on earth are you doing wandering this desert? Hanging around this creature of all things."

"This creature has feelings, too for your information. I'm blind, not deaf."

"Eclipsa, come on, let us go back home to Mewni. Your mother has been worried sick. And we still have a long way to go when it comes to your training and..."

"No Hekapoo," Eclipsa cried, "no, please Hekapoo, you've got to listen to me. I can't go back home yet."

"What? Why not?"

"Listen to me, this might sound hard to believe but... but I've recently learned about an ancient lost civilization, a race of monsters who are immortal. And I think they could be a really big threat to our kingdom. They're called the Septarians..."

Hekapoo stared blankly at the princess, not in disbelief, but shock. She held the glare for a while before turning straight to the demon:

"Did you tell her about all this? What on earth were you thinking blabbing off to her about your delusions? I won't have any of that you hear?"

"The Septarians are real, Hekapoo," Eclipsa cried, "if you don't believe..."

"I know they're real, thank you very much!" The Lady snapped, "But what you need to know about them, your highness, is that they're a long dead race of monsters."

"What part of immortal do you not understand?" The demon asked.

"And what part of the Great Raid do YOU not understand?" Hekapoo barked, "I WAS THERE WHEN IT HAPPENED! Not even Solaria knew about it. Only me and the Magic High Commission. We destroyed them, every last one of them. Not even a shred of skin remained after we were done with them. Every last one!"

"Well, apparently not," the demon reached into the tattered rags he wore around his chest. He then pulled out something that looked like a small pendant, "You see this? This... is a tooth from a Septarian. Apparently not even monsters are immune to a little rough housing you see, or even a little scuffle in a random bar somewhere. They're as easy to anger as Mewman barbarians. I picked up this little souvenir after one of them... ahem... dropped it along the way."

"What? That's impossible! No it can't be."

"You better believe it, sister! My very existence here is proof that these Septarians are out there. I can feel their cold blood, their cold breath showering down my neck, tingling my spine. You can't deny it."

"No... shut up!"

"Face it! It's the truth. The Mewmans came from monsters, and the Septarians are the very first monsters. But  _I_...  _I am the ancestors of all those walking this earth?_  And the Septarians are coming whether you like it or not!"

"SHUT UP!"

A flash of blazing fire burst out of Hekapoo's palms, lighting the entire cave on fire. Her fire was full of rage and hate, it even began melting some of the rocks nearby. The Toads clearly couldn't handle this heat; they fled the scene as soon as they could. Fortunately for them, they managed to escape the fire in time... most of them at least.

Hekapoo's blinking eyes of wrath was then followed by a surge of even more shock. From behind the smoke emerged a smaller shadow.

Her shadow - Eclipsa.

The princess stood right in front of the demon, taking on the blast and its full force. She was neither damaged nor burned. A few patches of char here and there but nothing major.

"But... how?"

A question Hekapoo asked before realizing the lightning bolts bursting from Eclipsa's finger tips.

The princess took a deep breath:

"I'm sorry Hekapoo. I'm not going back there anymore. I can't go back. My kingdom needs me and I need to get stronger."

Eclipsa charged up the electricity, preparing for one final blast.

"Goodbye."


	17. Chapter 17

"You did the right thing, your highness," the demon yanked the cork from his water pouch with his teeth, then immediately started gulping down the water inside. "Stick with me and you'll go far."

Eclipsa stayed silent, walking on while contemplating her decision.

"Here, drink up," the demon handed her his pouch, "you need water, or your guts will shrivel up and die."

"Huh? Oh... um... I'm not really thirsty but... thanks... I guess..."

"Still hung up on what happened, eh?"

"Well... yeah. I mean... I turned my back on my home."

"But you didn't turn your back on your kingdom. And that's what matters. No real use going back there sitting in a room all day long listening to some useless lecture while the war rages on outside. The cycle is just going to keep on turning, nothing you can do about it."

"The cycle? I don't follow."

"Ahem, you see," the demon explained, "Glossaryck thinks that you can just solve all the Mewmans' problems by tossing them a book then sit around and wait for the problems to fix themselves. At least that's what I think Glossaryck thinks. Honestly it's a bit hard to tell sometimes. But the point here is... ahem... it's a harsh truth... but the Mewmans are no better than the monsters. They're just not as bad as them."

"I... don't understand."

"Think about it, what do you think would happen if Glossaryck let someone like Solaria go on without keeping an eye on what she does? I'll tell you what, she's going to keep on conquering non-stop. No mercy, no hesitation. That's what the Magic High Commission is there to do. To teach them the nature of magic and how to use it. They're also there to guide the Mewmans to the path of good, to prevent them from going mad with power and from conquering every other kingdom in the land. At least that's what they try to do anyway, whether it's working or not is an entirely different story. Because you can't change the nature of a mortal. It's just not possible. The cycle is just going to keep on turning. The Septarians come in and pose a threat, the Mewmans try their best to repel their attacks, rinse and repeat. The endless cycle of good fighting the forces of evil is just going to continue. It has to, otherwise the Mewmans are just going to destroy everything."

"What? That's... that's impossible."

"Well don't just take my word for it. You can ask Glossaryck if you want. I mean... who do you think created everything in this universe?"

Everything just kept on getting more and more confusing as the days went by. Eclipsa had had enough of it. She wished she could run away to a remote island somewhere far away. But then again, she still had a responsibility to her kingdom, she knew that. On the other hand, the girl had begun wondering if everything will truly change for the better if the Septarians were stopped. Was stopping those lizards the best option they had?

No use thinking about it now, the girl told herself. She decided that she'll just ask Glossaryck about all this when they meet again.

"Right," the demon clapped his hands together. "Enough about all that. Let's get back to your training. Fire magic... not going to be easy to master."

"What do you mean? I mastered my lightning bolts didn't I?"

"Nope. You go around blasting your lightning that recklessly and you're going to fry your own brain. To master fire to the fullest extent, you have to understand... well... everything else around the fire."

"Um what?"

"It is believed that the very first fire on this planet was created when a lightning bolt struck a tree during a thunderstorm. So you see the fire came from electricity which came from the raining storm which in turns came from the mix between the air and the water evaporating into the sky and so on so forth."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Are you slow or something? It's the basic elements dammit! I'm talking about the basic elements. Fire, air, water, earth. The water in the river, the air in the sky, the fire from the thunder. And how does earth play into all this you ask? Well, earth is what protects all living things from the overwhelming strength of the lightning bolts. It is strong, sturdy and can never be truly harmed by the fire raining from the sky. To master fire is to master everything else. And even if you manage to master all of those things I said, it still will not be enough, and you wanna know why? Because to fully control the fire of the material world, you first must learn to control the fire within yourself. A fire that predates even the forest fires that was born from the lightning. A fire so strong that it can burn absolutely anything it touches... as long as the wielder still has a sliver of willpower left inside."


	18. Chapter 18

"Alrighty then, let's make camp for the night," the demon said. "You go ahead and make some fire with the twigs we picked up. And I'll sit around and keep a look out for... things."

"In other words you're going to sit around and do nothing?"

"Hey, hey, I didn't say 'nothing' alright? Get back to me when you have the capability of spotting the enemies from thousands of miles away without even looking. You should be thankful that I'm even doing this for you, you're blind without me. Now hurry up with that fire will ya?"

"Okay, okay, sheesh."

Eclipsa couldn't really see anything around her, but she could feel decently well enough. The pile of twigs she built probably looked like a jumbled mess, but it didn't really matter, they were going to burn it anyway.

The princess focused the energy inside her, then concentrated them towards her palm. The fire felt a bit weak but since she was blindfolded she wasn't entire sure.

"Well, you still got a long way to go," the demon said, "but at least we can warm up a bit now. I'll cook these fish up for yer. That oasis was a blessing, ha ha."

"Thank you," Eclipsa rubbed her hands, holding it towards the fire, "not a big fan of those rats we ate you see. I don't feel comfortable eating something that used to be sentient, even if that something is in great pain."

"Heh, right, and one of these days people are going to declare that fish have rights, then we won't be able to eat anything at all. What is this world coming to?"

"By the way, do I really have to keep this blindfold on? It's night time isn't it?"

"Yes you do, I want you to train your senses. You rely to much on your sight. And that's not good. Makes you dependent, weak."

"Yeah... alright."

Eclipsa hadn't been able to look herself in the mirror for quite some time now. She wondered what her hair looked like with all the sand blowing against her face.

"Hey... um," the girl hesitated, "I... can I ask you something?"

"I don't see why not."

"Wh... um... what is Glossaryck like? You said you've been talking to him. So what's he like?"

The demon responded with a warm chuckle:

"Good question. I too wonder, sometimes, what goes on in that brain of his. The most important thing you have to understand about Glossaryck is that he isn't the god of this universe. He IS this universe. When you talk to him you are communicating with everything in reality. His vague riddles make no darn sense because there are things in this reality that makes no sense."

"So why is he helping us Mewmans? Why is he training our princesses and queens?"

"It's hard to tell really. One can only guess. My guess is that his goals are the same as the Magic High Commission's - keeping the Mewmans from conquering the other realms. But then again the guy also likes to horse around and not take things seriously which makes you wonder if he's just doing all this for fun or something. He's a walking paradox, that much I can say... ha... here you go, not going to be as good as the fish cooked back in Mewni but can't really be picky around here."

"Thanks..." Eclipsa grabbed the stick with the cooked fish. The smell overwhelmed her to the point it made her wonder whether it was the scent of this particular fish or if it was because the demon was hiding some exotic spices on him somewhere.

"I gotta ask," Eclipsa said while nibbling at the meat, "why did Glossaryck create... you?"

"Ah, ha ha, I wish I knew, your highness. It's weird, we demons aren't immortal, but we couldn't exactly die either. Not before our time comes. We felt hunger gripping at our guts but there was nothing for us to hunt. We felt the thirst clawing at our throats, but there was no water to be found. We could try jumping off a cliff and try to relieve the pain but all that would do is break our bones and make it ten times worse. Each demon has a specific time of death that is destined to come no matter what. Meaning that we cannot die before that day. No matter what... we cannot die... until that day. The worst part about it is that none of us know when that day will come."

Eclipsa sat there, logically piecing everything together. It then became clear:

"So... you... you've been alive all this time? Since the beginning... and you still haven't figured out when... that day will come?"

The demon laughed:

"Honestly... when you've been alive for so long you start to become less curious as the days go by."

Eclipsa was lost for words, speechless. And the demon just kept on laughing:

"It's funny really. I... wait... do you hear that? That sound... hmm... huh... footsteps?"


	19. Chapter 19

"Any idea who it is?"

"Don't know..." the demon whispered, "his footsteps are heavy. A monster maybe. He's big, like really big. At least eight feet tall."

"What should we do?"

"Hmm... not really sure. Maybe he's friendly."

"Friendly?" Eclipsa cried under her breath, "Are you serious? Anything  _that_  big must be dangerous. Nope, no, I'm not taking any chances. We are getting out of here, now!"

"Will you just calm down? It's dangerous to travel during the night. I... wait... hold on just a sec," the demon began sniffing at the air, as if he picked up on something he recognized a long time ago. "Could it be? No... out here of all places, how? No... can't be... it... it's definitely..."

"Definitely what?" Eclipsa asked.

The demon simply replied with:

"Him..."

An overwhelming aura suddenly invaded Eclipsa's heart, startling the poor girl. She immediately removed her blindfold, disregarding what the demon had told her. And in the dark of the night she stared straight onto a gigantic shadow of a powerful monster. He wasn't scary, but his presence was simply overwhelming, paralyzing her with his presence alone. She couldn't explain how but the monster was too much for her.

"Disastervaine?" The demon muttered, "Is that you?"

And before Eclipsa could even calm down and recollect herself, a huge grin was already forming on the demon's face. Eclipsa's eye balls were practically flying out of her sockets, and not only because the demon was laughing like maniac but also because under the moonlight she could finally see the enormous creature standing before them. Hard scales, long tail, long snout, sharp fangs and green skin all over? No question about it. This... this was a lizard - a Septarian.

"Do my eyes deceive me?" The Septarian said, "Desmond? Is that really you?"

"Holy mother of corn!" The demon yelled, "Disastervaine, it really is you! Ah ha ha!"

The two instantly embraced each other as a pair of old friends who had been away for far too long, eager to share with one another their tales across the land.

"Oh my goodness, this is truly a blessing! I cannot believe that you are here!"

"Neither can I," the demon said, "and for the record, quit calling me Desmond will ya?"

"I'll call you whatever I want you old fool," the two continued to share a powerful arm shake, "it's good to see you again... old friend."

"Ah the feeling's mutual," the demon answered. "Hey, princess! Come on over here and meet my lizard friend. His name is Rhastikore Kaosus Disastervaine. Sheesh what a mouthful. When are you gonna start calling yourself Randy or Rachel?"

"When you start accepting me calling you Desmond."

"Ah ha ha, fair point, fair point."

"So I see you've got yourself a new travel companion," Rhastikore said.

"Nah, not a permanent one," the demon said. "She's just tagging along until I find the Septarians. Which by the way, you wouldn't happen to know where those cold skin freaks are do you?"

"Septarians you say? Ha ha, I'm afraid I haven't been in touch with my people for a very long time."

"Is that so?"

"Um... pardon me but..." Eclipsa interrupted the conversation, "could somebody please tell me what on earth is going on? Who exactly is this Septarian and why is he out here all alone in the middle of the desert?"

"Oh, right, right," the demon said, "of course, my apologies. Rhastikore here is a long time friend of mine. I found him, you see. Back then he was just an arm left behind by some random Septarian who probably got their arm chopped off or something. I took the arm in, patched it up, healed it, bandaged it up and the next morning I wake up to find this behemoth standing before me. He calls himself Rhastikore Kaosus Disastervaine, and he insists on people calling him by his full name. Well, Rhastikore, I'd like you to meet the princess of Mewni herself."

"Um... right, Eclipsa... my name's Eclipsa," she extended her hand.

"A pleasure to meet you, your majesty."

"Ah, this is just beautiful isn't it?" The demon said, "But I'd love to stick around dilly-dallying and reminiscing about old times but the princess here is right to ask - what on earth are you doing here you crazy lizard?"

"Me? Well... I could be asking you the same thing. But knowing you, you'll probably just give me a half-baked answer or something. But if you must know..." Rhastikore sighed, "I'm not really out here just wandering around for the sake of it. I'm looking for someone. They call her the Fire Lady, ring any bells?"


	20. Chapter 20

"What do you mean you don't want to tell him about Hekapoo?" The demon cried.

"SHH, will you be quiet? He'll hear us. Just think about it, that Septarian is going to die the moment he meets Hekapoo. She'll burn him until there's nothing left of him!"

"You're kidding right?" The demon scoffed, "Didn't you hear anything that woman said back in that cave? The Magic High Commission tried to kill the Septarians long ago and it didn't work. So what makes you think that Rhastikore's going to be destroyed if that's the case? You tell me. Listen to me, princess, we send him after Hekapoo and he's going to buy us some time. Don't you see? It's perfect! Just trust me on this one okay? That lizard over there has survived way worse than anything Hekapoo can throw at him. He's not afraid of a little burn you hear?"

"Hey now, what are you two whispering over here?" Rhastikore's shadow quickly overwhelmed the two of them.

"Ah, nothing," the demon blurted, "it's nothing. Nothing, ha ha."

"Don't do this demon," Eclipsa warned him.

"Do what?" Rhastikore asked, "Desmond, what is she talking about?"

"Don't worry about her. So listen, I hear you're looking for a certain someone, a certain someone called the Fire Lady, correct?"

"That's right. That woman must pay for what she has done."

"Wait, hold on a minute now," Eclipsa said. "What on earth are you talking about? What exactly has Hekapoo done?"

"Hekapoo, so that is her name?" Rhastikore said, "I see... hmm... well, you see, princess Eclipsa, the Fire Lady has done something absolutely unforgivable. An act so vile and disgusting that it saddens me to even think about it. Imagine, an entire town - burned to a crisp without mercy."

"WHAT?"

"I was there," the lizard said. "I saw it with my own two eyes. She stood there in the burning crumbling remains of what used to be a beautiful prosperous town. She stood there with her burning pair of blades, laughing, laughing like it meant nothing."

This person Rhastikore described was definitely not Hekapoo, because the Hekapoo Eclipsa knew would never do something so horrible. Sure she may be mischievous at times but she was never cruel. An important distinction.

But...

But then... on the other hand... Eclipsa had seen so much more of this strange new world that part of her began to question everything she knew before.

"My code of honor won't allow it," Rhastikore continued. "As an adventurer myself I'd vowed to help any innocent soul out there who might be in need. And the Fire Lady has crossed the line."

"Ha ha, that's the Rhastikore I know," the demon cackled. "Always so strong, confident. Light that fire inside you old friend, you'll go far."

"You know me, Desmond. I shall never give in to injustice."

"Right, good, good, so do you think you can put that confidence to good use? Because we might be needing it right about now."

"What are you talking about?" Eclipsa asked.

"Don't tell me you didn't notice the sand dragon rushing towards us right over yonder."

"Wait, what?"

"Pay attention will ya? Use your sense for corn's sake, smell the burning sand above the beast's iron hide. Do you see it?"

"Um... err... oh... OH, you're right. Dear Glossaryck, it's huge!" Eclipsa cried.

"You ready, old friend?"

"Just like old times, Desmond. Just like old times."

"Princess!" The demon shouted, "Don't think for a second that you get to skip out on your training just because some big monster is coming our way. Now... show me how you'd fry a dragon will ya? Ha ha."


	21. Chapter 21

"From the heavens and the earth, bring forth the fire that never fades!" The demon laughed maniacally. From his palms flew sparks of raging fire.

The sand dragon stood there unfazed by the three's attacks. It sat there above the sand, nearly as big as a small hill. Its rough and golden scales were perfect for blending in with the burning sand. Behind those fearsome and deafening roars were fangs as large as swords - jagged and sharp. They used to tell stories of travelers getting eaten by beasts in old fairy tales, but this monster here looked as if it had swallowed an entire town whole with the size of its belly. Too massive, like a gourd full of wine.

"Desmond, look out!"

Rhastikore lunged in, chopping the incoming claw strike from the beast with his enormous falchion. The blade could barely scratch the beast's scales, but it at least gave the demon enough time to dodge.

"Woo! Are you getting sloppy there Rhastikore?"

"Ha, I could say the same about you, Desmond."

Eclipsa continued firing her lightning bolts at the bulky dragon. But the beast continued shrugging it off like a bunch of falling leaves.

"I need some help over here!" The princess shouted.

"Keep stalling," the demon grunted.

"For what?"

"I need to charge up my spells, that's what!" The demon said, "It's been an awful long time since I've done this."

"Well then hurry up! I can only shoot lightning at this fat thing for so long."

"Worry not, princess," Rhastikore jumped in. "My blade shall pierce the beast's hide."

"Yeah you go ahead and do that old pal."

The sand dragon took another giant swipe with its claws towards the Septarian, but to its surprise the lizard was lunging straight through the air passing through the claws. He landed on its knuckle and continued to strike with his enormous blade.

Eclipsa felt the magic in her dwindling. She kept blasting her lightning at the monster but all that did was make it even angrier. The girl was panting nonstop. She felt desperate, running out of options.

Rhastikore leapt off the rocky skin of the beast, flying in the air while swinging his sword like a hurricane. The Septarian was surprisingly agile for his size.

But even someone as fast as he wasn't capable of avoiding the tail whip from the dragon. It came out of nowhere, as if hiding behind their fields of vision this entire time. Like a giant metal pipe, the tail knocked him away into the distance.

The force was strong enough to create a sand wave towards Eclipsa, blinding her entirely, even knocking her off her feet.

"Welp, there goes our chance at survival," the demon smirked, "it's been nice knowing you two."

"NOT - HELPING!" Eclipsa yelled, still out of breath.

The girl felt only a single ounce of energy left inside her. Not enough to do anything substantial to the dragon.

The demon was still charging up his spells in the distant, while Rhastikore was far away into the sand. The only thing now standing between the dragon and the demon was her.

Desperate - the girl thought of an idea.

A crazy idea, something way beyond her skill level. She wasn't even sure if it was possible. She wasn't even sure if the demon himself had enough skill to pull something like this off...

But the dragon's rage left her little time to decide. So Eclipsa stopped listening to her head altogether and followed what her guts came up with.

She stood up, raised her palms towards the dragon - and started chanting:

"I call the Chaos unto me..."

"Huh?"

"From deepest depths of Earth and sea..."

"What are you doing?" The demon asked.

"From ancient powers unawoken... break the one that can't be broken..."

"PRINCESS, STOP!"

" _I have to do this, demon!_ " She shouted back, "No other way around it!"

"Stop! I haven't taught you how to control it yet. It'll turn you mad!"

"I'm not trying to control it."

"What?"

And from her palm a black vortex began to form, sucking in the space around it. It was small... but immensely powerful, the demon could tell. He could feel its strength sucking them in even from a distance. The vortex began to spin even more violently and gradually expanding into a big black ball off energy. The vortex was so dark that the sun could barely light up the desert at this point.

And before the demon could even react, Eclipsa unleashed the vortex onto the big fat monster before them. The ball traveled like a spear flying through the air, still violently spinning and sucking everything in.

The moment it made contact with its scales - everything fell silent.

It was a silence so horrifying that one could never escape once it was heard, not even in their sleep.

A silence that coated the agonizing howl of an animal.

The dragon began to squirm, contorting in ways that Eclipsa didn't think was possible. Twisting its tail, dislocating it arms, the roar of pain continued soaring through the air until finally - it all came to a stop.

Nothing remained but a body - unmoving.


	22. Chapter 22

" _Princess... hey princess wake up!_ "

Eclipsa began rubbing her eyes. Blurry blobs - those were all she saw the moment she opened her eyes. The next thing she saw was a dark shade of navy blue. She had no idea what it was supposed to be at first until her vision began coming back and there they were - bright stars dancing in the dark heaven. She was on her back, covered in a thick blanket.

"Hey, can you hear me?" A coarse voice rumbled by her ear, "Sheesh, you sure made a mess for yerself back there. A mess that  _I_ had to clean up."

"Huh..." the girl began blinking repeatedly, trying to compute her surrounding, "H... wha... what happened? How long was I out?"

The girl woke to the sight of a campfire, with the demon sitting by her side washing his hands in a bowl of water while Rhastikore sat by the fire munching on some of the fish they caught.

"Heh... I'd love to know what happened too, ya know," said the demon. "As for how long you were out I can confidently tell you that it's been exactly five hours, 20 minutes, 16 seconds since we fought that sand dragon."

"Whoa... that long?" Eclipsa glared down to her palms which she'd just now realized were covered in a thick layer of bandages, "My hand! What... what hap..."

"Crazy things happened, that's what," the demon told her. "Lots of explosion here and there, I think the bones on your fingers melted off at one point."

"WHAT?"

"Nah, I'm just kidding," he chuckled, "but seriously, though... princess... mind tellin' me what happened back there? With that... vortex of yours?"

The girl sat there, almost stunned. Pondering about her creation. But her head was still heavy from the battle earlier that drained so much of her energy and magic.

"I... I have no idea."

"Well that's just not gonna fly, princess."

"Leave her be, Desmond," Rhastikore barked with a mouthful. "She's been through a lot, okay? You take your time, princess. No rush."

"Well... um... I remember... trying to summon Chaotic energy. It felt... natural. I guess being around you for so long helped with that. But then I remembered what you said... about the Chaos turning you mad. So I just... well... I stopped trying to control the Chaos..."

The demon fell silent, rubbing his pointy chin.

"Look it's been a long day alright?" Eclipsa said, "I don't recall a lot of the details, it's a miracle that I even remember that much. So don't you go giving me that look, you hear?"

"No... no... that's... that's not what this is about," the demon said. "It's just... I have never seen anything like it before... not in any books, any scrolls I've read."

"So?" Eclipsa asked, "Is that supposed to be a big deal?"

The demon sighed:

"You should know that you didn't just kill that sand dragon... you cracked its soul."

"Pardon?"

"In layman's terms? It means that you took all the negative aspect of its soul - wrath, greed, its killer instinct - and you turned it against itself... or at least that's one theory I have anyway because I never believed that animals have souls."

"Huh... how about that."

"Or perhaps..." Rhastikore chimed in, still chewing with a mouthful, "it was... a spell of Darkness."

"Ugh, not this again," the demon grunted in disgust.

"You know it to be true Desmond."

"No, it is not!" He snapped back, "darkness against light, good against evil are all artificial concepts created by mortals in an attempt to rationalize actions committed by their own kind that are not socially acceptable. I mean to claim to know what is good and what is evil and draw it out like a diagram? Give me a break. And the idea, the idea that there is an element out there that can give you dominion over these artificial concepts is absolutely asinine. Darkness is just that - darkness, the opposite of light. What  _she_  did wasn't darkness. She didn't manipulate the light so that the morning would become night. That was not what she did... it wasn't what she did."

"What you said... may be true," Rhastikore said. "But... there's a reason why the scholars are still arguing over the theory. Fire... ice... space... there are plenty of wizards, witches, alchemists out there capable of controlling these elements, yet none has been successful at creating light or darkness. A common explanation is that because most aren't even sure if such elements exist. Which is strange considering the sun still rises in the morning and the moon still shines through the shadows. Maybe... just maybe, the scholars have been looking at the wrong places. Instead of trying to control these elements like all those physical elements, fire and ice, maybe... maybe they should try studying that of the... spiritual world. Thousands of years trying to manipulate darkness like manipulating fire - no results. And yet a girl, not even an adult, still inexperienced in magic, managed to produce a vortex full of darkness. Hmm... I wonder..."


	23. Chapter 23

"You're leaving already?" Eclipsa cried.

Rhastikore sheathed his gigantic falchion and hurled it over his back. There were still a few scorch marks on his leather armor from the fight between the dragon. But the demon managed to patch him up real good. It was amazing what he could do with just some bandages.

"Well..." the Septarian said, "I still have a quest that I need to pursue. I've been chasing the Fire Lady for far too long. I can't stop now."

"You... you really think she did all those horrible things you said... don't you?"

"What else am I suppose to think? I saw it myself."

Eclipsa clenched her fist tight. She knew that Hekapoo may be a bit harsh, but there was no way she could've done something so horrible. She knew because she still believed in her.

But she also knew it wouldn't change a thing if she were to try and convince Rhastikore. He too believed deeply in his mission.

"Well... I suppose I can't stop you nor change your mind."

"Thank you... for understanding, your highness. I wish I have more to offer you, but now all I can give you is my wish for good fortune."

"Yeah... you, too... Rhastikore."

"Disastervaine!" The demon called.

Two beings - a monster and a demon came face to face. No doubt they hold a strong bond, a strong sense of camaraderie. To think, an eight feet tall monster stronger than a mountain and a small scrawny old demon wizard coming together. It was an amusing image for sure. But immensely powerful nonetheless.

The two embraced each other - as if this was the last time they would see each other.

"It's been great seeing you again, Disastervaine."

"The feeling is mutual, Desmond old friend."

"When you meet the Lady again, tell her I said hello, will ya?"

"Heh... will do, old friend... will do."

Rhastikore held up his small sack of supplies by his side and was ready to head out, but not before he turned and faced Eclipsa one last time.

"Oh, that's right, your highness," he said. "I  _do_  have one last thing to offer you."

He pulled from under his armor a small black leather pouch and threw it towards her.

"Here, catch!"

"Huh? Oh... um... what's this?"

"It's my finger, see?" The lizard held up his hand, showing the stub where his finger used to be. "I can still feel my finger moving around in that pouch, even if it's a thousand miles away. So go ahead and give it a rub or a scratch every now and again, so that I know you're all fine and healthy. And if you ever felt you're in danger, just drown it in fire. I'll track down the fire and come help you before you even know it."

"Oh... okay..." Eclipsa looked at the pouch, slightly nervous. "Tha... thank you."

"Consider it a good luck charm of sort."

And with that last smile - the lizard disappeared into the distance, consumed by the sandstorm raging from afar.

"So this is it huh?" Eclipsa wondered, "Do you think we'll ever see him again?"

"Don't know... I don't even know if I'm going to be around for very long. So who knows if we'll see that lizard again."

"So... we're off to find the other Septarians then?"

"That was the plan," the demon said. "Although due to all these sudden development as of late, I'm afraid we're going to have to speed up your training."

"I figured that might happen."

"Good, because we're going to start your Crystal magic now."

"You mean ice magic?"

"That's what some old scholars called them. Doesn't matter either way, because it's going to be brutal, so try and keep up. Since you went ahead and messed up your hands with that vortex of yours, we're going to have to try some extremely advanced techniques. Are you ready?"


	24. Chapter 24

The days were getting more excruciating the longer they walked on. The blindfold was definitely not helping one bit. Sure it kept her from turning into a crazy cuckoo clock, but that didn’t mean the sun was incapable of getting to her through other means. Every second out in the open felt like the star was melting the skin off her bones. Like being drowned in a sea of boiling oil with no boats around to save her.

Not only that, but the demon made her walk around holding a handful of sand in her palm, and was told to heat up the pile until it turned into glass. He said it’d be good practice for both her fire and crystal magic. The girl was way too tired at this point to even question how any of it made any sense.

“You heating things up back there?” The demon asked.

“Yeah, yeah… I think I’m starting to get a hang of this fire magic thing. I can feel the sand turning into glass.”

“Good, good. You know, I’ve been talking to Rhastikore the other day, and remember how he said he hasn’t been in touch with his people for a while now?”

“Yeah? What of it?”

“Well, turns out that wasn’t entirely true. He told me that he  _has_  come across a group of unsavory looking individuals during his travels. A group that may know something about the Septarians and their whereabouts.”

“And what did he meant by ‘unsavory looking individuals’?” Eclipsa asked.

“He told me there’s a cult out there somewhere.”

“Really now? Out here in the middle of nowhere? Of all places?”

“Trust me, I know it sounds crazy. I told him I didn’t believe it either, but he insisted that he saw it himself. Sounds like some old legend you’d tell in a tavern or something, but it’s the only lead we’ve got now. So no harm in trying to see where it leads.”

“I suppose not.”

“There’s a cave nearby. Let’s go in and rest our feet. The sun’s been way crueler today for some reason.”

“Oh my lord, yes please.”

The cave had a cool breeze blowing from within. Not razor sharp cold, but not wind so weak you couldn’t feel a thing either. Just the perfection that helped ease the boiling pain that was the gift from the heavens.

“Welp, go ahead and make yourself comfortable,” the demon said. “We might be here awhile. Depends on whether the sunlight will weaken in the afternoon or not.”

“How many fish do we still have left?” Eclipsa asked as she took off her blindfold.

“Err let’s see,” the demon rummaged through his sack. “Only three left, and they’re nearly all rotten at this point. We better gobble them up quick before some disease catches on.”

“Alrighty then, I’ll go make a fire for…”

Eclipsa paused for a brief moment, noticing something peculiar behind the shadows of the cave.

“Um… demon!”

“What?”

“I think you might want to take a look at this.”

“What d’you… wait…” the demon began sniffing at the air. “That smell…”

“There’s a flag over there,” Eclipsa pointed, “a green flag.”

“Green?”

“Yeah.”

“What does it look like?”

“Um, well… the cave's a bit dark but… it looks to me like an emblem of sort, a… um… a snake. It has eight heads and… err… eight tails.”

“Eight heads and eight tails…”

“Is that supposed to mean something?” The girl asked.

“Holy mother of Mewni…”

“What? What’s going on?”

“Dear lord… they’re here!”

“Who?”

“… Th… the Septarians.”


	25. Chapter 25

“Are you absolutely sure it’s them?”

“Yes, there’s no doubt about it,” the demon said as the two of them hurried down a set of mysterious stone steps that were hidden away behind some large rocks. The two of them probably wouldn’t have noticed it if it wasn’t for the flag giving it away.

“But how could you be so sure? What does that snake symbol mean?”

“It’s the symbol of the Serpent Priests,” he explained. “A cult full of monsters who claim to have been enlightened and have reached transcendence. They mostly consist of Septarians, but there have been a few other monster species here and there. Most people think the group has disbanded long ago. Most people also think the Septarians went extinct after the Great Raid, so you can guess by now that there are a lot of things that ‘most people’ do not know.”

“Okay, I follow you so far. But what are they doing here in the middle of nowhere?”

“That’s what I want to know, too.”

The stone steps were jagged and all over the place, which made it extra difficult to walk downwards, not to mention the pitch black darkness all around blinding them. Eclipsa managed a small fire in her palm but it didn’t really help much. Surprisingly, the demon also had a difficult time with every step he took which was strange considering how he never seemed to have an issue walking on a regular surface under the sun despite his blindness. Eclipsa wondered why this was any different.

By the time they were at the bottom of the stairs, Eclipsa began spotting more of those green flags but still no sign of life anywhere. Which felt oddly chilling.

“Careful,” she said. “Could be a trap.”

“Hmm… you’re right.”

But then a heavy low breath came bursting out from the corner by their side, startling both Eclipsa and the demon. The area down here was even darker than above. The flame in Eclipsa’s palm could barely reach over three feet in front of them. It was as if they were walking underwater.

The heavy breath…

It came from a monster.

A Septarian.

The creature was abnormally small, especially compared to someone like Rhastikore. If it wasn’t for the thick and dried up layer of skin covering over his snout under his tattered hooded robe, Eclipsa would’ve assumed that the creature was a child. The Septarian sat there with his legs crossed and his bony fingers resting on his thighs, unmoving, with his mouth gaping wide open. Eclipsa noticed he was missing a few of his teeth, and the beard around his chin was falling apart, much like the demon’s balding head.

“Psst, demon…”

“Huh?”

“Why don't you go ahead and use one of your spells to see if this is a trap or something, will ya?”

“Don’t tell me what to do!” The demon whispered, “And besides, that’s not how magic works. So just calm down alright? This place was abandoned long ago. That Septarian over there is probably dead.”

“How can you tell?”

“Well, for one, I can’t hear his heartbeat,” the demon began sniffing the air, trying to pick up anything out of the ordinary. “That Septarian is probably one of the Serpent Priests. If I have to guess, I’d say he was meditating. Maybe even trying to communicate with the cosmic deities.”

“You mean Glossaryck?”

“More or less.”

“So what do we do?” Eclipsa asked, “Do we just leave him here?”

“Let’s search the place first, maybe we’ll find…”

“ _BEWARE!_ ”

“AH! What on earth?” Eclipsa and the demon cried aloud.

The crumbling body of the ancient lizard began twitching, its mouth gaping open for air. Tiny sounds of bones cracking here and there within his body.

From his mouth, he uttered these horrifying words:

“ _BEWARE THE ONE THAT LIVES FOREVER… HE WILL BRING THE END TO ALL…_ ”


	26. Chapter 26

“Demon?” Eclipsa muttered, feeling a small chill down her spine, “What does he mean by that?”

The demon did not answer. Instead he chose to inspect the area around, trying to find anything left behind to salvage.

“Did you not hear me, demon?”

“Heard yer loud and clear, princess,” he grunted, as he browsed through a pile of books by the corner. He figured they were records of some kind.

“Well?”

The demon flicked through a couple of pages before deciding to slam it shut. Followed by a heavy sigh:

“What do you want me to tell you then? The only immortal ones around here are the Septarians. Why don’t you just put two and two together for crying out loud?”

“So that’s it then huh?” Eclipsa said, “Even after that horrible thing he said, you still insist on finding those Septarians?”

“My business with the Septarians has little to do with that…  _thing_  and his little prophecy. What he talked about was a single Septarian, not the race as a whole,” the demon continued digging through the pile of books, all of which were incredibly filthy and was made from the hide of a strange beast that was clearly distinct from regular leather.

“Besides,” the demon went on, “that Septarian over there went back to his little ‘slumber’, so it’s not like we can wake him up and try asking him for clarifications. To think the poor sod woke up to say one sentence and then went right back to sleep. Weird… Aha! Found you,” the demon exclaimed.

“What?”

“The most recent record of what happened here. Most of these books are spell books and tomes of alchemy, but there’s a bunch of letters attached to the pages here. Poor fella wrote it down like it was his last day walking the earth.”

“Wait, what? How on earth do you know that? You can’t even see.”

“Maybe, but I can still smell the tears running down the parchment here. And as for the books, there’s a faint smell of numerous chemical compounds all over them which makes me think they were trying to create artificial magic.”

“You can smell it that far back? Even after all these years?”

“Rough guess, I suppose,” he smiled. “Why don’t you go ahead and read those letters out loud.”

“Um… alright… ahem… see here… whoa, these were written over 700 years ago.”

“Dear corn.”

“Right, let me read this out, here’s the first letter…”

_July 14th, Year XX_

_The third group of cavalry came back today, they were in terrible shape. That must mean the war is still raging on out there. Countless monsters still go out there every day just be slaughtered. I need to perfect the formula. The High Priest is anxiously waiting for results. I guess sharp blades and sturdy shields aren’t enough against the Bugs anymore. Many said that I’m consumed by my work and that I should go home to my family. Good thing I don’t have those anymore. They were but a hindrance to my work. I must continue._

_July 17th, Year XX_

_Warlock Vuut came in today, said one of the scouts spotted the Fire Lady down the stream. A perfect opportunity to test out my ice scroll. But I’m running out of parchment. Note to self: tell errand boy to go fetch more warnicorn hide. I also had another council meeting today. The High Priest was extra grumpy today, probably thanks to that fool Vuut. He better not mess up my ice scroll, the High Priest is already angry as it is. No doubt he’s going to blame me if Vuut messes up the experiment._

_August 1st, Year XX_

_It’s all coming together nicely. It should be time now to move on to the next step of the experiment. Now I just need the High Priest’s approval to test on one of those Bugs. Vuut is no doubt going to disapprove, because “just because they’re prisoners, doesn’t mean you can experiment on them.” Yeah, don’t be a hypocrite, Vuut. They’re Bugs – tyrants, every last one of them. They don’t deserve to live._

_August 3rd, Year XX_

_I had a dream, a dream of a golden land ruled by monsters. A land where dragons and werewolves live without the fear of Bugs. A land ruled by a Septarian king. He was glorious. So glorious and magnificent to the point that his heavenly glow covers his entire face. I couldn't even see what he looked like. It was just a dream, yet it felt so real. Perhaps a message from the universe? Couldn’t be._

_August 4th, Year XX_

_I had another dream, this time I saw the land bastardized, corrupted by the filthy Bugs and their monarch. Monsters were under the dominion of those tyrants. Many forced to work as slaves, many more driven out of their homes. But there I saw the Septarian king. I couldn’t see his face, for it was covered in darkness. I wonder what all these dreams mean._

_August 5th, Year XX_

_Another dream, this time I see no kingdom, no country. Only an empty space and a man with blue skin. He was laughing for some reason. He said that he was going to tell me the secret of the universe. But I can’t quite remember what it was. Something about forces of good and evil and an endless cycle. That’s as far as I could remember._

_October 26th, Year XX_

_I REMEMBER!_

_I remember my dream. The one with the blue man. The secret of the universe. It’s all so clear to me now. But I can’t explain it. Because my brain can’t even process it right now._

_This war is futile. Not for us you see, but for the Bugs. I understand now. The Septarian king will come. He will come. He will come and triumph on the day the monarch falls._

_I see it now. The reason why I couldn’t see his face is because I AM THE SEPTARIAN KING. That is my destiny. Those who walk this earth must beware the one that lives forever, for he will bring the end to all. I will be the one to free this land from tyranny._

_I have decided to outlive the Serpent Priests. Even Vuut and even the High Priest. I have turned them all into stones. Not statues, STONES! And here in this cavern I will meditate until the day destiny sounds its horns. When that day come – I will be there._


	27. Chapter 27

“So this is him?” Eclipsa asked, “The High Priest?”

“It seems so. I feel a strong aura emanating from it.”

The two of them stood in front of an abnormally large rock by the wall. There were a total of seven of these lying around the area. Each with a unique shape that was both natural yet still somehow unsettling at the same time. Their grey textures were shimmering in the darkness of the cavern, rough exterior but still decently shiny. If the journal excerpts were to be believed, then it meant that these stones were once the Septarians within the cult.

But the question remained:

“How?” Eclipsa wondered, “How is this possible? Were these Septarians actually capable of using magic?”

“Plenty of people have attempted to create artificial magic before,” said the demon. “Not many succeeded, though.”

“But this one did?”

“That’s what those journal pieces implied. Not entirely sure, though. Let’s keep looking around. Maybe we’ll find more clues about this whole thing. Maybe even an antidote or a reversal spell of some sort.”

“Right, let’s see here…” Eclipsa began flicking furiously through all the pages. There were chapters focusing on bodily anatomy, many others focusing on the spiritual aspects from within. There was even a section that focused on meditation methods, and that section lasted over three chapters.

“Ah okay here we go,” said Eclipsa. “Transmogrification.”

“Okay, what does it say?”

The girl began reading aloud:

_Transmogrification is a complicated method of alchemy that I’ve begun to develop by the order of the High Priest. It is said by many renowned warlocks and witches that magic comes from a different plane of existence that exists separate from our own, and that the royal magic wand is the instrument of accessing said dimension – a gateway, so to speak. Of course many of these theories first originated from the Bugs so I have to take it with a grain of salt. If this theory turns out to be true however, then it is absolutely paramount that we find a way to access this dimension without the use of a magic wand. There have been many previous researches that propose to steal some Space-Time energy to create a makeshift portal into the magic dimension. But I reckon that it is not going to be an efficient method, and the reason why should be clear. Fortunately I have managed to discover a much more powerful source of energy for us to use to access the magic dimension…_

Eclipsa froze in her place, with her grasps on the book trembling in disbelief.

“What?” The demon asked, “Why d’you stop? Princess?”

Something was definitely out of place. She could feel it. The girl had traveled far and wide and yet there were still things that managed to amaze her. This was one of them.

She read out the last sentence:

“The source of energy that I am referring to is Chaos…”

And then just before it could even sink in, the two picked up on a familiar voice up there by the cave entrance.


	28. Chapter 28

“ _Oh gosh, oh gosh, what are we going to do?_ ”

“Quiet will you?” The demon snapped, “I can’t hear anything with you breathing down my neck like that. Let’s see here… hmm… high heels… wait a minute… I smell… burned flesh…”

Eclipsa widened her eyes, whispering:

“You don’t think…”

“No… dear lord… she’s here!”

“ _COME OUT HERE DEMON! I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE._ ”

“Shoot… she’s got us cornered!”

“What? No way! What’re we going to do?”

“I don’t know,” said the demon, “but she’s brought a lot of troops along with her. Mewman warriors – I can hear their metal greaves and steel blades.”

“So? They’re just soldiers,” Eclipsa said. “You can take them on no problem… right?”

“It’s not that simple okay, princess?” The demon snapped, “Do you have any idea who that person is standing out there? Do you? That’s the Fire Lady, part of Magic High Commission. She – is – a – goddess. She once burned a river so bad to the point that it is still burning to this day. I’ve always laughed in her face because I’ve always managed to run away. But now I have you on my back and things' suddenly become a little bit more difficult.”

“Oh so  _now_  I’m a burden to you, is that what you’re saying?”

“ _I CAN HEAR YOU TWO ARGUING IN THERE. SO YOU BETTER COME OUT NOW BEFORE I BLOW THIS CAVE TO THE MOON!_ ”

Eclipsa held her breath, then glanced over to the demon hoping to see him signal her and tell her of a plan of some sort. But all he did was sat there idle, unmoving. He gave a long sigh then slowly stood up, raising his hands above his head. Eclispa was beyond shock.

“Alright… alright… come on princess, there’s no point hiding now.”

She wanted to deny it, but she knew then he was right. Even if part of her still insisted to stay behind the rock hiding. But it will only make things worse.

Eclipsa got up on her feet, and there she was – Hekapoo. Standing there with a pair of fiery blades.

But to Eclipsa's surprise, behind Hekapoo was four strong Mewman knights trying their best to restrain a gigantic monster – Rhastikore.

“Disastervaine?” The demon muttered, smelling his scent.

All the Septarian could do was force a smile, despite the pain:

“Heh… she got me, Desmond… she got me good.”

“No… Rhastikore…” Eclipsa gapsed.

“Enough!” Hekapoo shouted, “This game ends now… princess, it’s time to go home.”

“No… no…”

“You need to let her go,” Hekapoo pointed her finger at the demon. “This has gone on for far too long. Do you have any idea what your little game here’s caused? The queen is out for your head, you know that? She’s sent out troops across the land trying to find her daughter, the daughter that you took. The ongoing Monster and Mewman war sure isn’t making it any easier.”

“Oh, right, threatening to invade the Rat kingdom with your massive army and somehow it’s my fault. Listen, lady, I don’t have any stakes in this war of yours you hear? You do you.”

“None of this would’ve happened if you’d listened to reason and just hand her over to us," said Hekapoo. "I’m trying to stop this war here, and all you’re doing is making it worse.”

“And  _I am_  trying to not get myself erased from existence here,” the demon fired back. “What part of that don’t you understand?”

“I don’t want to hear any of this,” Hekapoo snapped. “Eclipsa, darling, you are coming home, NOW!”

“I don’t think so,” shouted the demon, as he raised his hand and began charging a ball of chaotic energy in his palm.

“STOP!” Hekapoo shrieked, “You fire that thing at us and I’ll burn your Septarian friend here to a crisp, just like I did back then.”

“Nice try, Hekapoo, but I know you can only do what you did back during the Great Raid when you’re around all the members of the High Commission. Too bad they’re not here right now.”

And in a flash of an eye the ball of green Chaos in the demon’s palm grew tenfold. It was even more powerful than the vortex Eclipsa created. But this time it didn’t feel like they were being pulled in like a tornado. It felt more like the demon was holding the sun in the palm of his hand.

“Demon what are you doing?” Eclipsa tried yelling through the ruckus.

“Doing a little test run. Let’s see if this theory made by that Septarian sleeping over there is true.”

Then, another flash erupted violently into the cave, wave after wave of endless energy flowing into the area like a cork being taken off a bursting wine barrel. There seemed to be no end to it. But it didn’t feel like Chaotic energy, rather something else entirely.

Everything fell quiet. The explosion had knocked everybody off their feet, even Hekapoo. And from the empty space in the air emerged a small speck of white which gradually grew larger and larger until it became the size of a doorway. Inside was a spiraling vortex of white and gold, covered in a shade of black and violet.

“Eclipsa hurry!”

The girl managed to get back on her feet again, but before she could even process all this the demon grabbed her by the wrist and with the strength of a warnicorn – threw her straight into the strange vortex.

“What the... DEMON! What are you doing?”

But all he did was smirked just as the vortex began to close:

“Find the rest of the Septarians for me, will ya? I'm counting on you.”


	29. Chapter 29

There was nothing around. As far as Eclipsa could see, nothing but a sea of white. She was unsure if they were mist or water. But she was walking on it like clouds, whatever 'it' was. They felt light, weightless. As if they were pouring from a fountain of infinity. Endless, and uncaring of whatever was swimming within.

“Wh… why did you send me here, demon?” She muttered to herself.

The girl was still desperately trying to understand where she was and what that spell he did really was. He said he was testing to see if the theory made by that Septarian was true. Then that must mean she was sent to this so called ‘magic dimension’ as it was stated in the book… right?

“So this… this is the magic dimension? Where all magic comes from?”

Surprisingly empty. She had saw what her mother was capable of with her magical skills, she had also heard countless stories of the invincible power wielded by Solaria, yet all of that paled in comparison to the size of this endless pool of magic.

“Hello?” Eclipsa tried calling out, “Is anybody here?”

No response.

Clenching her fist, she took in a deep breath and bellowed at the top of her lungs:

“HELLO?”

But still nothing.

Of course there isn’t anything here, she told herself. Confused, and flustered. She wasn’t supposed to be here. She still have a mission to carry out. Her kingdom was in danger, consumed by war and here she was, stuck in a place where nothing existed.

The girl felt like crying, but she was more confused than sad. What did he mean by finding the rest of the Septarians? A question that kept ringing in her head. She spun her head in all four directions, yet still could find nothing.

“ _You won’t find anything like that._ ” A voice suddenly boomed in her ears.

Her head whipped right around, but she saw nobody.

“ _Have you learned nothing?_  The voice continued, “ _Didn’t he teach you to see without your eyes?_ ”

She kept spinning around, but still nothing. The voice continued to echo before she could even question how the voice knew all of that:

“ _Focus. Close your eyes, and try to see…_ ”

No use in trying to question it now. The princess closed her eyes, trying to remember her training with the demon. Then in an instant, a river of magical energy began flooding into her mind, transporting her to an entirely different plane of existence altogether. No longer could she see the endless sea of white, but now an endless shade of violet and black – in space.

Eclipsa recognized this. She had seen this before somewhere. This familiar sensation of the infinite cosmos.

And there, forming from a cluster of clouds, there he stood.

“Hello, princess,” said Omnitraxus Prime.

“Omni? Is that you?” Eclipsa’s jaw instant dropped 30 feet downwards, “What on earth are you doing here?”

“Ha-ha, well it’s nice to see you here, too. But I’m not really…  _here_  here in the traditional sense. I am only one small aspect of the one called Omnitraxus Prime. I rule only over this domain. I have no business outside this realm. That’s why the regular Omni would go out of his way to capture the demon no matter what, because I have a duty to fulfil. But in here, I have no need to do so.”

“You’re speaking like you two are different people or something, yet you’re one and the same,” said Eclipsa.

“I know, strange isn’t it?” Omni laughed, “Makes it quite useful though if my body’s ever damaged in any other realm. I can always come back here to heal.”

“Um… okay, but what do you do here, exactly?”

“Well, to be completely frank, I haven’t exactly figured that out yet. So I just try to keep this realm from harm. Keeping it from falling out of balance.”

“Oh… okay.”

“But hey, I saw everything that went down, though,” Omni said. “In that cave I mean. Quite fascinating to watch, I must say.”

“So you just sat here watching everything from the side?”

“Like I said, I have no stakes in the current situation. This realm exists separate from the physical realm.”

“So um… do you… err… do you… I mean you saw what happened right?” She asked, “Do you know what the demon meant when he told me to find the rest of the Septarians? Are there more of them out there? I thought those Priests we found were the last of their kind.”

“I’m afraid it’s something only you can figure out. But if the demon’s sent you here then he must trust you a great deal.”

“What do you mean?”

“The demon has always been a loner,” Omni explained. “He has never trusted anybody in his life before. Even those who he considers close friends, like that big lizard pal of yours. If he trusts you enough to send you here hoping, no, knowing that you will succeed, then it must mean that he sees something in you. Something great, I’d wager.”

“But… but… I… I don’t even know who I’m supposed to be. I tried to reject my royal duties and responsibility. I ran away from home hoping to escape that life and yet I still end up trying to save it. I mean… who am I?”

“Heh…” Omni chuckled under his breath, “From what I’ve seen, I’d say that you are a bridge.”

“Huh?”

“A bridge between two worlds. You have seen things about the monsters that no Mewman’s ever known about. You know Mewman secrets that monsters would die to know. The way I see it, you can either use these new found knowledge to further spark the fire of war on both sides or – or… you could use it to create a new synthesis.”

“Synthesis? What does that mean?”

“Ha-ha, that’s something you'll have to find out on your own.”

“Oh…”

“But hey, I’m a nice guy. And I have nothing to do right now. So I’ll go ahead and help you out with a little hint. We are here in the magic dimension. The biggest source of magic in the entire universe. You’re trying to find the Septarians, correct? Well… why not make something out of all these magic? You do want to help the demon don’t you?”

“I… um… I… I want to find… I want to find the Septarians… so that I can stop a war… but then… when I look at him… at the demon. I feel sorry for him. He has been through so much. And yet he still prevailed. If it wasn’t for him, I would’ve been dead at this point, lying face down on the sand. I… I want to repay him. If he truly trusts in me then I can’t let him down. I have to save him. Save him from oblivion. I… I… I want to make him see again. He’s shown me so many things, so many wondrous things about this universe. I want to repay him by showing him the beauty of this world. The beauty that he never saw…”

Omni could only response with a laugh:

“You know, he’s never going to admit this, but he’s no doubt going to be proud to have a friend like you.”


	30. Chapter 30

“Okay, so let’s see here… um… I call upon the eyes that see everything… hmm… no, that doesn’t quite roll off the tongue.”

“Do you really have to make an incantation?” Omni asked.

“Yeah, why d’you ask?”

“Well, I just thought wouldn’t it be easier to just cast spells without writing out a whole verse? Shouting out a bunch of words every time you cast a spell ought to be tiresome, yeah?”

“The only spell in that category that I know how to do is the Whispering Spell. And even then, I still have to open my mouth and, ya know, say stuff into the wand,” said Eclipsa. “Alright, let’s see here… um… how about I call upon the eyes that can see… err… no, that’s not going to fly.”

“Ooh, how about – I summon the All-Knowing Eye?” Omni suggested.

“Hmm, it does rolls off the tongue a bit better. But All-Knowing? How does that even work?”

“No idea, just sayin’ things that pop into my mind.”

“Alright, you know what? I’ll take it. I’m just going to change it to All-Seeing Eye and roll with it if you don’t mind. Don’t have much time left now.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

Eclipsa cleared her throat:

“I summon the All-Seeing Eye… um, err… to give me sight beyond the sky… hmm… reveal the secrets long forgotten and um, err… oh, err, unveil to me that which is hidden.”

And in an instant the pool of magic all around began forming itself around her in a powerful whirlpool, sucking in every inch of magic from all four directions, despite the girl expecting it to not even work at all. This overwhelming power, the power that spreads across the cosmos, latching onto her arms and her fingers like vines.

She felt like she could do anything she wanted.

“Whoa, careful now,” said Omni.

“I’ve got this!”

Another flash erupted from thin air, an explosion so strong it rivaled that of a volcano. The whirlpool kept on spinning and spinning even more violently. And slowly, gradually, something began to form within the spiraling vortex.

A forest.

“Oh my gosh…” Eclipsa gasped, “it… it’s working!”

“Well would ya look at that?” Said Omni.

“This power… I can feel it flowing through my veins.”

“Quickly now, you have to find the Septarians.”

“Oh, right.”

Eclipsa began focusing on moving the whirlpool she created, trying to find a way to see a different location. Moving to the left and the vortex gave her a scene of a cliff by the sea. It wasn’t what she wanted. Moving to the right on the other hand and she was looking upon a valley under a mountain. To her horror, she realized she had accidentally stumbled across a view of an ongoing battle. A group of Mewman knights, ambushed by some tribal monsters.

No time to be distracted now, she told herself. She continued on browsing through the endless landscape, the endless biomes. All over the kingdom of Mewni and beyond. Beyond the deserts where Toads waged war with Rats, beyond the sea where whales swallowed up pirate ships whole. Beyond the waterfalls harboring cursed treasures no one dared to touch.

“Where are you?” She muttered.

And finally…

Beyond the mountains and the seas.

Hidden away in a place no mortal could find.

A monster temple. Covered in ancient moss, surrounded by trees soaring to the heavens. There they were, tribal and small – the Septarians.

Four, five, no, at least a few dozens of them, clad in black cloaks. They wandered around the temple like ghosts looking to be free from their unfinished business with the mortal world. They built themselves a small fire place in the middle of a couple of tents here and there. Sheltering their eggs and younglings from the cold breeze.

“I found them,” Eclipsa muttered. “I can’t believe it… I found them!”

“So it would seem,” Omni said. “So what will you do now that you have found them?”

“I… oh dear… you’re right. I have to go to them. But… I don’t know how to get out of this place. I… WAIT! Omni, you can help me out can you? You can send me from this realm all the way to where the Septarians are can you? You’re the master of space and time after all.”

“Hmm… well, I’m not so sure. Altering either space or time might lead to some very serious consequences.”

“I’ll take that chance. Please, Omni, please you have to help me out.”

“Hmm…” the giant space god began scratching his head, pondering. “Well… I suppose it couldn’t hurt… alrighty then, I’ll lend you a hand. Say hi to the demon for me when you see him again.”


	31. Chapter 31

_Hand me a towel…_

_…w's her condition?_

_Doesn’t seem ve…_

_Try harder…_

_… I told you, we should’ve left her back ther…_

_Shh… quiet… she’s waking up…_

Eclipsa took one deep breath just as her eyes flung open. The sensation was rather familiar. It was like all those times she woke up to find the demon by her side treating her wounds. But it was different this time around. She wasn’t in pain, just dizzy.

She sat right up on the bed upon instinct. There she witnessed a strange sight – three Septarians in black cloaks sitting around a table full of some strange vials and bottles. There was a fireplace by the corner, though only barely lit.

“At last…” one of them said, “you’re awake.”

She was about to question them how she got here in the first place before finally remembering what had happened before her vision went black. It must’ve been Omni’s doing, she told herself. This was what she wanted in the first place. Though she hadn’t exactly thought about what she was going to do once she meet these monsters. Her mind went blank, empty for a while.

“You’ve been out cold since the sunset, little lady,” another one of them said. “Not many folks dare to venture into the forest around these parts, you see.”

“You’re… you’re… Septarians,” Eclipsa said.

“Hmm?” The one to her left raised an eyebrow, “Pray tell, how did you know what we are? And more importantly how did you find us?”

“I… um, I…” she stuttered, “I’ve been looking for you. To… um… to help out a friend of mine. And to… stop a war.”

“A war you say?” The one in the middle pulled down his hood to reveal his navy blue skin and a head full of golden hair. “My name is Narr, these are my brothers Rok and Ragg. We are the three head seers of our tribe. We have foreseen an impending war in the future. A war that revolves around us Septarians. If what you say is the truth, they you may be the key for us to escape that terrible fate that awaits us.”

“There he goes again.”

“You have something to say, Rok?” Narr asked.

“One cannot simply break the cycle of destiny. If what we have seen of the future is true then there is nothing we, monsters living in the mortal realm, can do to stop it. Interfering with the cycle of destiny will only validate and strengthen said hypothetical forces thus prompting the events to come even sooner.”

“We do not have time for one of your ramblings, Rok,” Narr said. “We as creatures of the mortal realm do not have a full understanding of the mechanisms of what we saw in our visions. This girl is the first outsiders in decades who possesses knowledge no ordinary person could possibly possess. Don’t you see? This is a sign.”

“Enough, you two!” Ragg cried, “Your constant bickering will bring us no good. We have to consult the Specter of the Ancient Texts.”

“Who?” Eclipsa asked.

“Our lord who we worship – Sir Glossaryck of Terms.”


	32. Chapter 32

“This temple was built over a thousand years ago, made to give monster refugees sanctuary,” Narr explained. “These are sacred grounds where it is decreed by law that no Mewman is allowed to set foot here with the intention of invasion.”

“I don’t understand,” said Eclipsa. “What’s keeping Mewmans out of this temple?”

“An ancient act of sin,” said Ragg. “An act so vile and full of bloodshed that it gave birth to a curse on the moon. A curse that bound Mewmans and monsters in an eternal cycle of war. A curse that will continue to exist as long as there is blood on the moon.”

“Thousands years ago,” Narr continued, “countless innocent monsters were slaughtered without mercy on these very sacred grounds. It soaked the soil wet to the point that no animal has since dared to eat any of the fruits that grow from this earth in fear of the stench. A stench so powerful that it negated all magic in the area nearby.”

“Whoa.”

“The Mewmans regretted this,” Rok said with slight tone of sadness. “Because even as warlords they still possess a small ounce of dignity. So in great shame, the Mewmans swore to never harm this sacred ground again. Even if there is no stench that stops them from using magic, they would still never in their lifetime violate that code. But all that will pale in comparison to what is to come. The war in our vision is ten times worse than any war that came before it.”

“All shall be clear when she speaks to the Specter,” said Narr.

“Wait a minute? Me?” Eclipsa asked. “You’re not coming in with me?”

“Oh no, princess Eclispa,” said Rok. “No more than one person at a time can enter the inner chamber. You must venture in and explore the pages on your own. All we can do for you now at this point onward is wish you luck.”

And with that the three seers left her in this hall. A hall built from ancient stones from the mountains of the past. Marble columns and walls engraved with images of countless monster deities, they stretch beyond into the darkness beyond.

There were sights of Septarian younglings playing with each other along the wall behind some of the columns. How they looked so innocent, so carefree. Finding joy out of something as simple as hopscotch on the stone tiles of the temple. Oh, how Eclipsa wished she could find that joy again. Just to be free, to be a child again.

The girl proceeded down the dark hallway. Where she felt the fingers of the shadows slowly creeping behind her shoulders. It felt… honestly kind of refreshing. Like exploring uncharted lands where no one would dare to venture.

There at the end she stumbled across a small wooden door held together by thick iron hinges. This must be the inner chamber they talked of, she thought. She didn’t hesitate to go in, knowing how little time she had left.

But once inside she was rather surprised. Perhaps intrigued was the better word, because the girl was expecting to see Glossaryck floating on top of a book, but instead what she found was just a literal mountain of books piling up the entire room. She picked up one and tried flipping through it – blank, every page, which greatly confused her. She tried her hands at another one and the result was the same, empty.

But the intrigue did not stop there. Amidst all this messy pile was a single book sitting on top of a small table. This one was different from the rest as the leather on the cover was blue instead of brown like all the other books in the room.

“Hmm… blue… could this be it?”

Eclipsa flipped open the book, but she was met with a page full of unintelligible scribbles. She picked up the book and flipped through it furiously but all the pages were exactly the same. She tried squinting her eyes, looking at it upside down just to see if it was a puzzle of some sort. But nothing came of it. The girl was thinking she might turn mad if this kept on going.

And then it just hit her – madness.

“Of course!” She cried.

Eclipsa closed her eyes, trying to find the Chaos lying dormant within her heart. It was faint, and dwindling within these sacred grounds, but it was still there.

She looked back to what she had learned from the demon. The ability to see without seeing. The ability to see without using one’s eyes. The ability to see.

And when she opened her eyes once more, everything became clear:

“ _Dear Eclipsa…_ ”

That was the first line she read in the book. A book full of insanity. And yet it was clear as day. She continued reading:

_If you are reading this then it must mean you have finally found where the Septarians are hiding. It also means that the demon has successfully taught you the tongue of madness. I always find it extremely amusing, actually, to watch people try to decipher what these meaningless lines mean…_

“Glossaryck?” Eclipsa wondered. But there was little doubt about it. The way he always managed to find joy out of the darkest of times. She read on:

_The Septarians have a saying: the heaven flies beyond the stars, always finding its skies despite not knowing where it’s going. Which is a roundabout way of saying their Lord Glossaryck – being me – works in mysterious ways, which I guess isn’t that far off to be quite frank. When you know the things I know you just can’t help but stop along the road and have a little fun, knowing everything will fall in place eventually. But I know that you’re not here to hear me ramble on about all that. Yes, you, the one I’m talking to, princess Eclipsa…_

The girl took a step back right at the sentence, but managed to continue on:

_I know you say you want to find the Septarians in order to stop them from invading… one of these days… I guess. But you and I both know that that is not entirely true now is it? Well, I personally can’t help you out with that. That is simply something you'll just have to figure out on your own. What I can help you out with however is this – on the last page of this book you will find a Blank Letter. This Letter allows you to change one event in the entire history of this planet, ONE. You simply just have to write the event you want to change in the letter, seal it back inside and everything should take care of itself. I’ll give you a hint: you might want to think about the event that cursed the Mewmans and the monsters thousands of years ago._

Curious, the girl flipped through the entire book to the last page, and there it was – the letter, contained within a white envelope with a red wax seal. There was no emblem on the wax. Eclipsa then turned back to the first page and continued reading:

_So this leaves you with two choices. Either you can choose to NOT change the past, pick up this book and wander the globe for the rest of your life trying to stop this eternal war (inside this book contains an entire archive of magical spells and experiments that can give you enough power to rival a nation. Fire, crystal, space, you name it). OR… or you can choose to revert the curse of the past, the curse that was cast down thousands of years ago which would obviously stop the eternal cycle of war while also at the same time save the demon’s soul from oblivion. You might be wondering as to how it’s even possible that the demon’s soul can be saved. Well, that I’m afraid I cannot tell you, so you’ll just have to take my word for it. But I will say though that it IS something that you can find out but only if you choose to wander the globe with this book in your hands, discovering more wondrous secrets the world has to offer._

_So in short, two choices: change the past and stop the war while simultaneously saving the demon’s soul or don’t change the past and travel the world with this book of nigh unlimited power and knowledge within your palm, using it to try and stop the cycle of war._

_Which will it be, princess?_


	33. Chapter 33

“Come now, Princess,” Glossaryck said. “You shouldn’t keep your mother waiting.”

“Cut it out Glossy,” Eclipsa laughed, “it’s weird hearing you talk like this.”

“You’re right,” he admitted. “It was bound to get old quick.”

Eclipsa responded with another bright grin:

“I’m glad you’re here with me, Glossy. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“You’re giving me too much credit there. Remember that Mewman and monster peace treaty you signed last month? That was all you.”

“You’re selling yourself a bit short there,” said Eclipsa, “I mean what 20 year old girl is capable of such feat? At that age it’s close to impossible. All those long nights you stayed up with me helping write out invitations to the monster representatives, hoo, I would’ve died if it wasn’t for you.”

“Ha-ha, that would’ve been a fun thing to see. But enough fun. Mother’s waiting. To think coronation at this age. Must be a miracle. Well… the sooner the better I suppose.”

The gate swung wide open into a scene where hundreds had shown up from far and wide. Hundreds of both monsters and Mewmans wearing the most beautiful dresses and outfits they could get their hands on. Everybody from all corners of the kingdom showed up including many of her friends she met during scholar training. And even the Magic High Commission, the ones who helped her so much during her training.

Everybody was here…

And yet…

She still felt as if there was something missing.

And there she sat on the throne – her mother the queen. Or the soon-to-be former queen. But Eclipsa didn’t want to get ahead of herself. The look on her face was no doubt the look of pride, no two ways about it. She was always a harsh woman, someone who was tough to really get to know. Looking back now, she may have been overly harsh at the time, but she was definitely looking out for her daughter, preparing her for her future. Preparing her for this day.

“Princess Eclipsa, welcome,” said a familiar voice.

“Oh? Oh dear, I’m so glad you could make it, Baby,” Eclipsa smiled.

“Of course, I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

There the tiny cat fairy flew over to where her mother sat, right by the throne. The queen stood up, standing tall in an imposing pose. She reminded Eclipsa a lot of Solaria. Powerful and stern.

But then – when she spoke no words came from it.

It was like as if time was frozen within a dark uncharted space.

Eclipsa reckoned that she was seeing things. But everything suddenly became so surreal to her. Her vision was flooded with strange unfamiliar images of monsters and Mewmans. Sudden flashes of darkness began blinding her eyes.

These flashes… she had seen them somewhere before. She was just unsure where.

And before she even knew it, the ceremony was already over. She was a queen now.

“Wha… what’s going on?” Eclipsa muttered under her breath. “I… I… I’m sorry. But… I need some fresh air.”

Something was wrong. She couldn’t tell what. But something was missing.

Eclipsa ran straight into the hall and down the stairs. Breathing rapidly each step she took, with her head spinning more aggressively the lower she went.

In her hands was everything she could ever ask for: a crown and power over a kingdom. So what was missing?

“Princess Eclipsa!” One of the guards spotted her at the end of the hall, “Are you alright? Aren’t you supposed to be at the coronation?”

“Huh?” She looked up, “Um, yeah, yeah, I was there. The ceremony’s over already.”

“You’re not hurt are you? You look awfully tired.”

“No, no, I’m fine. Just need to catch some fresh air, that’s why I left early. Um… you go up there and have some fun, there’s a party going on. I’ll rejoin everybody shortly.”

“That’s good to hear. I’m glad I ran into you, though,” said the guard. “There’s someone here who wishes to speak with you.”

“Huh, is that so?”

“Yeah, he’s a blind old man of some kind. He said he knows you.”


	34. Chapter 34

“This better be important,” Eclipsa said. “My mother is up there waiting for me with everyone else. My time is very precious you hear? And to ask me to spend it in a private place of all places. You better use this gift wisely.”

The old man was wearing a pile of tattered clothes, with his cloak covered in dust that came from both the mountains and the deserts. He wore two eye patches over his eyes. On his head was a long lock of silver hair. Under his grey beard – a slight grin.

The man… was familiar. Eclipsa couldn’t exactly say why, but there was this irritating feeling within her guts that she could not explain.

“Don’t talk like one of them,” the man said, “you’re not. Even if you want to.”

“What?”

“It’s been a while, princess,” he grinned. “Did ya miss me? Ah, what am I saying? Of course you don’t. You don’t remember… how could you?”

“Don’t… remember what?”

The old man turned his head, as if looking her straight in the eye. Eclipsa had started to wonder if he really was blind.

“Look around you,” he said. “Are you really satisfied with all this?”

“What on earth are you on about?”

“Just answer the question, princess. Are you happy or not?”

“Well… what exactly is there for me to be sad about? I am the queen of a kingdom, a prosperous kingdom that has just recently found peace within its people. I live in a castle with my family, my mother, father, uncle, the Magic High Commission. I am soon to be married to a prince with great status. So pray tell, what exactly is there for me to be sad about?”

But the old man began to laugh in response:

“You’re delusional… delusional I say. You think that monster treaty is a sign of peace? That thing is a shackle to monsters everywhere. Monsters are still living under Mewmans’ rule, living as slaves. You think that your kingdom is going to live under a benevolent leader from this day forth? You need to go back to your little golden chamber and read over your spell book again. Dark spells? Spells of eternal suffering? A spell used for spying on people? Are you even reading what you’re writing down?”

“How did you…”

“Face it kid, the only reason those pompous rich folks up there still haven’t bat an eye yet is because your spells are giving them power. It is giving your kingdom power. Power over monsters.”

Then a stream of tears began running down his cheeks.

“Why…”

Eclipsa stared, confused.

“Why don’t you remember?” He then pulled from his shirt a crumbled letter with a red wax seal on the front. “Why?”

“I… I don’t understand.”

“You have to remember!” He cried, “You were the one who sent this letter to me. Do you want me to read it out to you?”

“Stop,” she said, “don’t come closer, or I’m calling the guards.”

“You have to remember, dammit!”

“No, stop!”

“REMEMBER ME, ECLIPSA!”

“GUARDS! HELP!”

Before long, a crowd of soldiers came crashing through the door, where they immediately jumped onto the old man, pinning him down. Followed shortly by chains and shackles around his wrists, then finally taking him off beyond the hall, presumably down to the dungeon. It all happened so fast Eclipsa barely got a chance to collect her thoughts.

A bunch of Eclipsa’s royal relatives burst through the door, concerned for her well-being. Including Baby and the High Commission.

“Princess Eclipsa,” a ravishing young man with long golden hair pushed through the crowd and into the room. “Princess, are you alright? Are you hurt?”

“Huh? Oh… um, no, no I’m fine, I’m fine. Tha… thank you for your concern, Prince Ruby. I’m… fine.”

Eclipsa noticed the letter the old man was holding earlier lying on the floor. He must’ve dropped it when they hauled him off. She picked it up and began reading:

_Dear old friend,_

_This may be the last time I get to speak to you, for I may not remember you from this day forth. I just want you to know that regardless of what happens I will always treasure what you’ve done for me until the end of time._

_I don’t want to forget the times we spent together and all the things you’ve done for me. But I have to save you and your dying soul from oblivion. And this may be the only way to do so. Because I have finally understood now as to why your soul was dying._

_The original sin that cursed the Mewmans and the monsters – you were the one who had committed it. Killing off countless innocent monsters and blaming it on the Mewmans. A vile act of ancient sin, a sin that birthed a curse on the moon. Binding Mewmans and monsters in an eternal cycle of war._

_I now understand that not many were aware of the truth, the truth about the ancient act of sin. But those who were aware were the ones who truly mattered – the monsters, the first monsters, the Septarians. They were ashamed of you, denouncing you, thus severing ties between you and them. And over time they have forgotten you._

_I don’t want to forget you, I truly don’t. But this is the only way to save you._

_So please, I implore you – don’t do it. Don’t kill the innocent and save yourself._

_Sincerely,_

_Princess Eclipsa from one of the possible futures._


	35. Chapter 35

The dungeon was a filthy place, full of small vile creatures dwelling in the carcasses of flesh and bones. The old man was chained to the wall, his wrists mounted into the bricks. Chained up like an animal.

Then there was the sound of footsteps, echoing in the dark hall over the other side of the bars. Gradually, a light burning off a torch approached the cell. It was Eclipsa.

“Leave us,” she firmly told the two guards standing by. They gave her a salute and went away out of the area.

Eclipsa raised the torch high, shining some light into the dark prison that held the old man. He looked sick for some reason, the princess just couldn't figure out why. It was as if he was consumed by grief or even… madness.

Eclipsa cleared her throat:

“I’m only going to ask this once – who are you?”

The old man raised his head looking at her, and he grinned:

“You really don’t remember do you?”

“I’ve read over this letter here,” Eclipsa held up the paper for the old man to see. “Mind telling me what you have to gain from putting my name on this?”

“Do you honestly think that I am capable of replicating your hand writing?”

“I don’t know. Can you?”

“Of course I can’t!” He snapped, then gave a long sigh, “I heard from Omni about what you said… about how you wanted to help me see again…”

“Look I don’t know why you’re pretending to know Omnitraxus Prime, but what I do know is that you are sorely mistaken if you think I have anything to do with you.”

The old man gave another sigh:

“It’s not going to work you know… what you did… reverting the ancient sin… it’s not going to work.”

Eclipsa, though had had nearly enough of this nonsense, squinted her eyes. Curious to know what exactly the old man meant.

“Exlplain,” she demanded.

“The ancient act of sin… is only a small part of the endless cycle of good and evil. Sooner or later… it’s going to happen again…”

“Wha…”

“MILADY!” A soldier burst into the dungeon, interrupting Eclipsa, while panting like a madman.

“What is it soldier?” She asked.

“It’s… it’s terrible milady,” the soldier stuttered, “… it’s… it’s your mother… she… she’s dead…”

“WHAT? HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?”

“It… it was a monster,” the soldier cried, “A Septarian.”

And just like that everything went flashing black and white right in front of Eclipsa’s eyes. The letter she was holding in her hand burst into flames, destroying the parchment and melting away the red wax. The fire illuminated a shade of dark violet as it consumed the remaining pieces of crumbling paper.

Then it all faded to black, and flashes of strange visions began to appear in her mind, like a fireplace illuminating inside a pitch black cavern. Flashes of images of a blind demon and a girl traversing the breadth of an endless desert. Flashes of countless monsters waging war not only unto the Mewmans but also unto each other as well.

Eclipsa had seen this before. She just knew deep down inside.

“ _YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER!_ ” A voice echoed in her mind.

And before she knew it, Eclipsa was standing in the throne room again. With thousands of onlookers by the side and a monster standing over the lifeless body of her mother. A tall Septarian that wore a thick black leather armor with a single skull pauldron on his shoulder – a skull with the Spade symbols on both cheeks.

“Hello… Queen Eclipsa,” the monster said, smirking at her.

Eclipsa’s eyes became wide with wrath and confusion. Her mind screaming of unexplainable agony. All she could see now was the moon in the sky shooting its bloody rays into the castle.

“ _The monster’s killed the queen!_ ”

“ _Heresy!_ ”

“ _Wipe them out, every last one of them!_ ”

“ _This – means – WAR!_ ”

“Eclipsa get back!” Hekapoo yelled while charging into the room, releasing her fire unto the countless rioting monsters.

Then, even more strange visions began flooding to Eclipsa. Now she was standing on a beautiful green plain, with the grass dancing to the wind. There from afar stood a bald lady and a monster king. That was Solaria – she stood there shaking hands with the monster king.

Then another flash came and now suddenly the plain of green had been replaced with the red of blood and fire. From afar Solaria was still standing there – but now clad in heavy armor with her mighty wand striking down any monster before her with thunderous fury. Eclipsa looked into her eyes and what she saw was nothing but pure rage and hate.

Another vision…

Eclipsa was now standing at the steps of an ancient temple. Again, another sight she had seen before, her mind couldn’t tell how, but her heart knew exactly where deep down.

There from afar stood a demon with two eye patches, in his hand was a throat of a monster. The monster had fear in his eyes, crying, begging as the grasp grew tighter and tighter until eventually – the monster stopped moving.

Behind the demon was a pile of bodies. And behind that pile was another pile. It was all over the place, never-ending.

And there in the sky, the moon was as red as the blood spilt on the soil.

But then the vision changed. This time the demon was nowhere to be seen. Instead Eclipsa saw three Septarian monks in hooded cloaks shaking hands with a Mewman knight. A few other Mewmans from behind began planting their flags onto the soil of these grounds.

And there in the sky, the moon shined brighter than silver.

“NO, STOP!” She yelled, “I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE.”

And then miraculously – all the crazy visions stopped.

Eclipsa was surrounded by pitch black. There was nothing around for miles. She couldn’t even see her hands before her.

The girl panicked, thinking that she must’ve died. She couldn’t see, she couldn’t breathe, and she couldn’t speak.

But then out of pure instinct, she instantly closed her eyes and deep inside she could feel turmoil rumbling. It felt… chaotic.

When she opened her eyes again, what she saw was a familiar sight. Something that she should not be able to know.

And yet she knew.

It was the demon.

“Hello… princess,” the demon smirked.

Eclipsa stared straight at him, consumed by a mixture of shock, confusion… and genuine happiness.

“Demon?” She asked, “Is… is that you?”

“Oh… you finally remember,” the demon smiled, not a sarcastic smile, but a genuine smile. “It’s good to see you again… old friend.”

Eclipsa did not hesitate to embrace the demon within her arms. With tears of regret running down her cheeks, saddened that she had forgotten the demon for a brief while. It was brief, yet felt like an eternity.

“I’m so sorry,” she sobbed. “I’m sorry that I forgot you.”

“Hey now, don’t be.”

It was subtle, and Eclipsa couldn’t see it, but she was sure that what she was hearing was the sound of the demon’s tears of joy.

“I thought I’d never get to see you again,” the demon said. “When I got thrown into the dungeon I thought I was a goner.”

Eclipsa giggled, still with tears running down:

“I have to say, though, your old man disguise was a real piece of work. How long did you spend putting on makeup in front of the mirror you old devil?”

“Ha-ha, well, it’s hard to really know what you’re going to look like when you’re blind. But hey, at least I didn’t have to see my ugly mug. Sorry you had to see that filthy thing though. And look on the bright side, your Fire aunt didn’t even try to incinerate me on the spot. One of the few perks of the timeline reset I suppose.”

“I don’t understand,” Eclipsa said. “How is it that you’re able to remember events from the original timeline?”

“Transcendence,” he replied. “Once you reach a certain level – you will only exist as a singularity across all dimensions. A timeline branching off to different paths will never affect you.”

“So does that mean… that… I… have reached transcendence?” Eclipsa looked around, still nothing but pitch black. “I… I remember… I remember things from my previous life, but I also have memories of this life. How is that possible?”

“Hard to say really,” he said. “You  _have_  come a long way since we first met. Stronger, more powerful. Unrivaled in history in terms of magic capability.”

“All thanks to you, I suppose,” she said. “It’s funny really, during my training in the new timeline, everything just came so… easy to me. It felt… natural, even dipping down. It was like as if I had done all those things before. At the time I didn’t know why or how.”

“Then my teachings didn’t go to waste then. Thank corn for that.”

“There’s still something that I do not understand about all this. I mean… the spells I’ve created throughout the years. Are they… Chaotic magic? Or are they something else entirely…”

The demon paused, pondering.

“Well… I only know as much as you do, princess. All your spells, I skimmed through it, some of them… absolutely terrible and horrific, but many more are, I must say, the definition of power. I honestly can’t tell. Some might come to call them spells of darkness, which begs the question… what is darkness in this case? Is it simply the opposite of light or is it something that concerns good and evil?”

“Demon… I…”

“Yeah, I know what you’re going to say. Now you know… now you know…”

“Demon… it’s okay, that was in the past… the ancient sin.”

“No it’s not okay,” he cried. “It’s not okay… I… I was… I was so ashamed. Ashamed of what I’ve done. I thought… I thought if I could prove that darkness and evil are two different things then I wouldn’t… then I wouldn’t have anything to worry about. But alas… the guilt is still there… it’s still there.”

“Demon…”

“I was so scared you know?” He muttered. “When you fired that dark vortex at the sand dragon. I was so scared. To think that the very magic that I am using is the foundation that would go on to prove my guilt.”

“Listen to me, demon,” Eclipsa held his shoulder, looking directly at him. “There are still things out there that I do not fully understand about this darkness element. Is it truly just a tool or is it tied to the darkest aspect of our morality, our soul? That I do not know, but what I DO know, however, is that you don’t have to feel guilty about what you’ve done. Because I know deep down inside that you are a good person, a person who wouldn't want to hurt anybody. That letter I sent is proof. I know you once said to me that you don’t care whether the Septarians will wage war on the Mewmans or not, I know you once said that you had no stakes in this, but that’s not true now, is it? I know you care for the monsters’ well-being, despite their poor treatment towards you. But I also know that you care about the Mewmans, too. When we were cornered in that cave you could’ve easily used your magic to fight off the Mewman knights, but you didn’t. Instead you created a portal. You did no harm to anybody and you created a portal… after that day… after the day the curse was born, after the day you committed the act of sin… you began to value life more… didn’t you?”

The demon laughed, then gave Eclipsa a warm grin:

“You’re reading me like an open book, princess,” he held her hands in his rugged palms. “Thank you.”

Eclipsa responded with a smile, although she was unsure if he could see it.

“So,” the demon clapped his hands together, “what now, princess?”

“Well… I think we ought to get back to reality.”

“Well, depends on whether we want to go back or not. I mean we could stay here… forever, even. That way we won’t have to deal with any problems ever again.”

“Yeah, true… but that would get awfully boring sooner or later wouldn’t it?”

“Ha-ha I suppose,” the demon scratched his chin, as if thinking of a way out. “I want to show you something.”

The demon then focused his chaotic magic in his palm, creating a cluster of numerous vortexes which then gradually formed into tiny circles – inside were the various visions that were flashing before Eclipsa’s eyes before she was transported into this realm.

“Quite the chaotic mess out there, don’t you think?” The demon said.

“Yeah, no kidding. We sure made a mess out of the timeline didn’t we?”

“I wouldn’t say that. One can’t play around with destiny. If it wasn’t me then it would’ve been someone else to commit that act of sin. Just as you see here with that Septarian fellow with the skull on his shoulder. The guy clearly has beef with you, otherwise he wouldn’t have put your cheek marks on the skull.”

“So what are we going to do?”

“Well…” the demon took a deep breath, “I have a proposition. But you’re not going to like it.”

“It’s not like we have much of a choice. Let’s hear it.”

“Well… I was thinking… to commit the ancient act of sin once more.”

“Demon, no.”

“Alright just hear me out alright?” He insisted, “Hear me out. Obviously we can’t reenact the original timeline, because that would mean that everything will happen again the way it did and we’ll end up here again one of these days. But what if… what if I try to curse the moon without killing any of the monsters? That way the Septarians won’t feel the need to abandon their heritage thus ensuring my soul won’t be sent to oblivion.”

“Okay, I follow you so far, but that would mean that many events of the original timeline would still occur, correct? Like… the Great Raid and Solaria’s reign?”

“Precisely.”

“But then… how would all this be resolved?”

“Well, that’s where you come in.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you’re going to help me break the cycle of war – by uniting monsters and Mewmans together.”

“Wha… but how?”

“This is the part that you’re not going to like,” the demon cleared his throat. “I… will grant you a child.”

“Excuse me?”

“Now, now, it’s not what you think it is alright?” He explained. “The child will be born from a meteor shower. It will be a child with both Mewman and monster blood flowing within her. And you will raise that child like your own. That child will grow up to be the bridge between two worlds – and in the end she will shatter the endless cycle of war once and for all.”

“I… I… I see,” Eclipsa paused for a moment, still hesitant. “But… how am I to explain to the people the existence of the child? Do I say that the child came from the stars?”

“That… is an excellent point. Which is why I will now have to ask of you the biggest request, no… the biggest sacrifice you will have to make… for our sake. Can you handle it?”

Eclipsa nodded, still fairly hesitant.

“Then I ask you to run off with a monster on the day of your wedding with your Mewman prince. On that day, you will run off with the child in your hands into the land of the monsters. You’re not actually running off with a monster you see, the Mewmans just have to  _think_  that you chose a monster over a Mewman as your spouse. And this is where the hard part comes in. So I ask you, no… I beg of you… for our sake, to fight. Fight against prejudice, fight against the cycle of war even if it means to fight against your own people or even the Magic High Commission. I beg of you – fight, for the sake of the child, the child who will soon be the bridge between two worlds.”

“I…” Eclipsa stuttered, still unsure but starting to get the picture. “But… um… who… who do I say is the child’s father.”

“I can be that person.”

“What?”

“You tell them that you have ran off with a demonic monster. I can take the blame. I can be the one they curse, I can be the one they hate. I can be the monster they tell their children about in their bedtime stories.”

“Demon, no.”

“Don’t worry about me, princess,” he smiled. “Whatever they throw at me, I can handle. As long as my soul is safe from oblivion.”

Eclipsa looked at the demon, trying to find any sign of uncertainty to make him back out from all this. But his face remained stern and unmoving. He was dead serious, no question about it. It sounded crazy, no doubt. And maybe even impossible.

But perhaps…

Perhaps this will be the only way they can live free from the shackle of war and bloodshed.

Eclipsa closed her eyes, prepping her mind, then gave the demon one final decisive nod.

“It is decided then.”

“Yes…” said Eclipsa, mildly sad. “Demon… um… will… will I remember you? Once I leave this realm and back to reality?”

“Don’t worry, princess,” he smirked. “This incantation I’m about to cast will be marked onto both of our souls. It is beyond time and space. Hoo, it's sure going to be sore in the morning, though. Besides, as long as you know how to reach transcendence, like you are right now, you will never forget me, no matter what happens to the timeline.”

Eclipsa couldn’t believe it, there they were preparing to say goodbye to each other once again and yet…

And yet…

Eclipsa just couldn’t help but feel a small sting of joy through her heart, as if knowing that she will see the demon again one of these days.

“Hey… demon…”

“Yeah?”

“I know I’ve already said this in the letter but… thank you… for everything.”

The demon smirked:

“You’re welcome.”

“I just wish we had more time,” she said. “I want to continue developing my All-seeing Eye spell even further. I… I want to help you see again.”

“I know, princess… I know,” his smile never faded. “I guess… you’re going to have to show me this spell of yours when we meet again after the war.”

“Yeah… yeah…”

“Well… so long… princess. And um… thank you.”

“For what?”

“For everything.”

And with that, everything fell silent and the only thing that was heard was the demon voicing off the incantation:

_I call the Chaos for all to see_

_From the deepest depths of you and me_

_To grant this princess a heavenly boon_

_So she may undone the hell on the moon_

_Bless the child that will be born_

_Bash the evil that will be torn_

_Reverse the cycle of ancient past_

_Make it so the sin will never last._


End file.
